That time Usopp's lies grew exponentially bigger and deadlier
by LittleRuky
Summary: The Strawhat Pirates embark on yet another dangerous mission courtesy of their navigator. Forced to disguise and lie his way through this, Usopp can only watch helplessly as more and more trouble stirs in front of him, culminating with meeting an Emperor. And through it all, the sniper is left with only one choice - lie to save his friends and get the final prize: a billion Berri!
1. Chapter 1

**Warning: A minor spoiler from a recent chapter. That's all xD**

 **This is set in an AU (if you wish to call it that) where _all_ the Strawhat pirates departed together from Zou.**

 **Disclaimer: ... nah, don't own it.**

* * *

"After _months_ of research, I've finally constructed our plan of action!" Nami's palm slammed on the open surface of the table as the navigator took in the people seated at the table in front of her.

The rest of the Strawhats looked partly uncomfortable, partly doubtful of the situation they just found themselves in. Luffy was only hungry, though.

"I'm not even going to address that time span, but tell us again." Usopp grimaced, like a rather painful memory had just played inside his mind. "What are we doing infiltrating a _Marine_ Base _again_?"

The sniper gulped at the positively feral expression the woman at the head of the table was displaying.

"There was a rumor back when we left Zou, _backed up by an article in the newspaper_ ," the orange head added, seeing Robin's mouth open in protest, "World Economics, to be specific, that a Marine Base a few days' distance now from our last stop had just received from the Headquarters an acceptable sum of money that, I concluded, must enter in our possession immediately."

"And this sum is?" Zoro asked gruffly, clearly not on board with Nami's stupid plans caused by incurable greed.

" _One billion Berri_."

The three words reverberated through the galley and her friends' jaws – save Robin's – hung open at the revelation.

" _Yosh_! We're going to steal all the money and meat!" Luffy declared, jumping on his seat and grinning to each of them happily.

Nami smirked, glad that her captain was as predictable as always. It had almost been too simple.

"And how are we going to infiltrate this base?" Her fellow female's voice was skeptical and, for once, Nami felt partly betrayed, partly irritated at her senior. She could be at least a little encouraging if nothing else.

Clearing her throat, the navigator addressed her friends and their expectant expressions.

"I've been digging for information on every island we have docked on until now and I've found everything we need." She reached in her jeans' pockets and produced several photos.

"These people are the highest ranked in G-20."

Eight pairs of eyes took in the strange people in the photos, all varying in shot angles that made it hard to see them clearly.

"They were taken by pirates or bounty hunters, so of course they are not so good." Nami explained sarcastically. "But they are enough to give us an idea on how to approach this. From what I gathered, there have been numerous conflicts between the Commodore in charge of the base and its recruits, though they weren't very serious."

"You really did plan everything, didn't you?" Usopp squeaked, knowing full well that they were done for. If Luffy and Nami were in on it, they would be whether they wanted to or not.

The navigator nodded decisively and continued her explanation.

"Even if they weren't serious, it still made the general mood of the base not so positive. I've taken advantage of it and sent a forged letter to the Commodore that was supposed to be from Marine Headquarters in which the guy was to be promoted. And he was expected to arrive at HQ in a week's time to receive it and be transferred elsewhere. Then I got some random pirates to wait for him and sink his ship."

A booming silence made its way between the usual happy crew. Only Franky's occasional slurps of his Cola disrupted it rather comically.

"So you killed the guy." Zoro concluded. Chopper whimpered from his seat and threw her an accusing glare along with Usopp and the swordsman himself.

Nami only shrugged, unconcerned with her deeds. "I've only told them to take care of him. My fault only extends so much. Besides, I have other things to deal with right now."

"Nami." Luffy's serious voice signaled that she had gone a little too far for his questionable moral lines. Though his eyes were shadowed by his straw hat, Nami could feel his penetrating gaze. "Are you sure doing it was worth the money?"

The navigator knew very well that she should choose her words carefully since if one word ticked her captain wrong, all her efforts would go to waste. Unfortunately, he will soon find out that he had no other choice in the matter.

"Yes since we're all out of money at the moment." She admitted and her crewmates looked at her with wide, accusing stares. Luffy and Sanji's were the most horrified out of them all. "I've paid our last money to those pirates."

* * *

"She bet everything on this." Zoro exhaled in irritation.

Robin gave him an amused glance.

"I believe her reasons might be more than just the price this time."

"Doubt it." Usopp and Chopper said at the same time, slumping on the table.

"Yohoho! It gives me the chills to know we're on our way to a Marine Base." Brook commented as he sipped his tea calmly. "Though I have no skin and flesh!"

" _Yow_! I'm sure our navigator will take care of everything." Franky grinned, opening another bottle of his favorite drink.

"You actually look willing." The resident sniper sniffed indignantly from his spot of misery. "Why?"

"Well, I've been expecting something like this to happen." The cyborg said in all seriousness. "After all, we've been in no danger for the past few weeks."

"And since Luffy didn't have the occasion to do anything to jeopardize the peace, one of us had to." Sanji finished, placing a plate full of pastries in front of Robin and Nami's empty seat. His eyes expectedly transformed into hearts. "I'm just happy to be of help to Nami- _swan_!"

"You'd just do anything she'd ask of you, stupid cook." The swordsman grunted, sinking in his seat. "We are not idiots like you."

"Shut up, _marimo_! This is your fault entirely! My wonderful Nami- _swan_ wouldn't have needed to steal money from marines if you idiots wouldn't eat and drink like idiots." The blonde said, munching on the butt of his cigarette angrily and slapping Usopp's hand away from the act of stealing.

"We haven't been eating more than usual-" Chopper's words were cut off by a scorching look from their cook.

"We've been having feasts everyday in the last _week_!"

A grim silence settled over the room at said revelation when the door was thrown open and their navigator entered, huffing at the tirade Luffy was pulling in the hopes he'd get to call the shots.

"No you won't!" The young woman twirled around to glare at the rubber man. "Now go sit in your place and let me explain the plan to you!" She pointed to his former seat.

Luffy pouted, but seeing as there was no reasoning with her, trudged towards his chair in relative silence save for the continuous mumbling over his much better and fun plan.

"Alright." Nami declared, dropping a stack of papers on the table.

"Are these the plans, Nami?" Chopper asked curiously.

The navigator hummed positively. "I've been studying everything closely based on those photos and, luckily, we'll be able to actually pull this off if you'll do _what I will tell you to do_." She paused, eyeing the people most probable to destroy her plan. Which was the whole crew, now that she thought about it. Sighing in frustration, she picked one of the files and sent it towards Usopp.

"You can easily pass as the Commodore's son, so you'll be playing the part. The story is that the Marines have appointed you as the new head of the base when your father sadly died a heroic death on his way to Headquarters."

"What! I have to handle a whole _marine base_?!" The sniper positively screeched.

"Yes and you will do a damn good job of it!" Nami slammed her fist on the table threateningly, making the long nosed man gulp and nod rapidly.

"Robin will be your creepy assistant."

The archaeologist raised an eyebrow.

"Usopp's father-"

"He's not my _father_!" Said man growled with surprising ferocity and Nami paused to reconsider her words carefully.

"Usopp's _fake_ father," the orange head scrunched up her nose at the still glowering look on her friend's face, "had her working under him. We'll just tell them that you've been appointed to attend to his son."

Robin nodded, albeit hesitantly, and accepted the files her friend handed her.

"Next is the secretary... which will be me." She placed another miniature stack in front of her. "Now comes the hard part. I have seven idiots that need to be given jobs."

Zoro rolled his eye while Franky and Brook only chuckled.

"Fake father had a special squad of assassins that were entirely under his command. Fake son will have inherited it as well. Zoro, Brook and Sanji." She pointed to each man with her index finger. "You're up."

"You've gotta be _kidding_ me!" The green haired man sank even further in his seat. "I'm not doing any of that ninja stuff."

Nami smirked. "You won't need to. The squad specialized in swords."

Zoro's interest was certainly piqued, but there was still someone that found the need to protest.

"But Nami _-_ san... I don't have a sword nor do I know how to fight with one!" Sanji said, his temple twitching at Zoro's inferno of jarring taunts.

"Ah, don't worry about that. Zoro can share." Nami's words successfully shut the green haired man up and Luffy burst out laughing instead, quickly followed by Usopp.

"Hell no, _witch_!" The swordsman growled menacingly, a hand atop his swords in a protective gesture.

The orange head rolled her eyes. "You have _three_. The assassins use only _one_ sword normally. Besides, you'd stick out like a sore thumb skipping around with three swords at your waist when they knew you to possess only one. Every idiot with half a mind would know it is Roronoa Zoro!"

"How comes that?" Zoro asked stubbornly.

"You're the most famous and probably only user of Santōryū." The navigator said blandly, her raised eyebrows clearly conveying the obvious message: _'You either do what you're told, or I'll make sure you will'_. "Sanji-kun and Brook will each get one of yours."

"But Nami-san," it was the musician's turn to protest, "I have my own sword-"

" _In a cane_. We have to be inconspicuous people!" Nami exclaimed, throwing her hands up in exasperation. She knew it would be hard, but not _this hard_.

"So my swords are?"

"Yes, they are because your face is on the bounty poster, not your swords!"

"Why do I even have to carry around the idiot swordsman's _sword_?" Sanji sighed, lighting up another cigarette.

"What will I be, Nami?" Chopper waved his hoof in the air excitedly.

Nami gave him an unnervingly blank look before droning a response. "Usopp's reindeer pet."

"WHAT!" Both sniper and doctor exclaimed, one chocking and one angry.

"Usopp's fake father had a tiger pet! He was an atrocious man with bad tastes, so his son must be as well!"

"Hey! I re-"

"Yes, yes, I got it Usopp, he's not your father!" Nami ruffled her hair tiredly. "Franky will be your robot. You make up a lie believable enough to get this point across."

Usopp paused mid-rant and blinked at the greedy woman. "Me?"

"Of course, you dolt! Everything revolves around how good you can lie and fool them all until I steal all that beautiful money from the safe!" Nami declared, jumping to her feet. "And you people will have to play along with whatever Usopp makes up, got it?"

The sniper puffed his chest proudly. "Don't worry, I will make sure you kids will be covered. Master Usopp will take care of everything!"

" _Nami_!" Luffy's drawled, already half-bored and lost by the ongoing discussion. "What am I gonna be?"

The navigator shrugged. "A new recruit."

* * *

 _G-20 MARINE BASE_

"You sure Franky's wooden planks will keep up the appearance?" Usopp asked nervously, pulling at his too tight shirt collar that was part of his Marine uniform. Which was more of a suit covered by a stolen 'Justice' coat and a rather fashionable brown hat that was somehow able to tame his curly locks. "Couldn't we just have taken that Navy ship we busted and drag the Sunny after us?"

"Too late for that." Nami said absently, checking her now blond hair in the mirror. "Besides, we used the same technique in G-8 and that time we only had your deplorable skills and it worked for a while. Franky's look a thousand times more believable."

Usopp twitched, but abstained from saying anything else. Instead, he surveyed the deck again and basked in the peculiar sight illuminated by the moon's rays and a few scattered lanterns they dared light on the ship.

Next to him, Nami was the most normal looking one, with a black skirt, pale pink shirt that was open at the neck and black heels. Only her blond hair was a major change that most of the Strawhats were still laughing about – though mostly silently after the major beating they received the first time around.

Luffy was jumping around in a standard Marine uniform, enjoying his last minutes with his precious straw hat as he will soon be trading it for a cap with the word 'Marine'. His scar has been covered over by Nami with a patch from Chopper's stash which he was threatened to keep on under all circumstances. The sniper concluded that his captain looked completely out of place in those pieces of clothing and would be really glad to not have to see him in them again. Chopper on the other hand, had already forgone his hat and was waiting for Nami's signal to transform into Walk Point and become a relatively normal looking reindeer.

Robin was dressed in a long black gown over which stood a 'Justice' coat. The attire looked eerily creepy in the silent night and her long, disheveled black strands covered almost all of her face save for a small opening for one of her eyes. A chill ran down Usopp's spine and he was sure it wasn't from the coldness of the night. Robin's visible eye was too amused to be innocent. He sincerely pitied their new subordinates as they would be the first victims of her morbid pranks.

The next group was a sight to behold. Besides the continuous wave of swears coming off from two of them, they looked laughably the same yet very different. The trio wore white coat-like robes and round-top tall rimmed hats over which a piece of paper with random scribbles, courtesy of Usopp, was attached so their faces were mostly obscured. Each of them carried swords – which a certain someone had almost resorted to gluing the hilts to the scabbards to keep the blades safe – at their waists. The weird image was uncannily that of Chinese undead soldiers and the sniper gulped back unconsciously, though that was the only thing worth getting scared over. As it was, Zoro's green hair still stuck out like a sore thumb – something which Nami still made sure to remind them of periodically along with her idea of dyeing said _marimo_ locks. Unfortunately, she was not yet successful – Sanji's continuous smoking was burning more papers per hour than the long nosed man could produce and Brook's afro was living up to its untameable status. But it covered all the skeleton parts the high collar couldn't so it was a win-win situation in the end.

" _Yow_! Everybody looks good!" Franky exclaimed, looking around the deck in amusement. The shipwright was only wearing a black cloak to cover his massive form since Usopp still hasn't come up with a good lie to cover his appearance.

"You still haven't found one?" Nami asked incredulously, fighting to keep her strands still so she could attempt a braid.

Usopp grimaced. "Not yet." The woman rewarded him with a raised eyebrow. "What! I work better under pressure!"

"Then you're in luck, 'cause we're here." Zoro drawled, walking over to the railing.

His hand brushed the remaining hilt at his side – Wado Ichimonji's. Brook and Sanji joined him as well, having made it an amusing game of imitating him.

" _To learn how to behave like a_ _ **marimo**_ **,** _you must become one first."_ , the cook had said sagely, prompting the 'algae' in question to start attacking him.

Sanji grinned at the uncomfortable vibes Zoro emanated as he followed the swordsman, though with a noticeable misstep in his walk caused by Sandai Kitetsu strapped at his hip. Brook was handed Shuusui and the skeleton had made it his mission to make sure that nothing happened to the first mate's precious _katana._ He knew how damaging one's sword felt like and he'd rather not be careless. The musician attempted a faceless smile as he felt the warm and reassuring hum of his Soul Solid that he had been forced to jam inside his chest. It was either this or leaving it on the Sunny – something that did not quite sit comfortably with him.

"Alright, you remember the plan Franky." Nami said as she watched the towering form of the base take contour. "We'll be leaving the hiding of the Sunny to you."

The cyborg nodded, his grin never once ceasing.

Not more than half an hour later, they had already disembarked and were greeted with quite the big crowd of officers. Usopp watched the many faces full of resentment and squashed the urge to gulp again. Instead, he let the familiar feeling of getting into character overtake him and his imagination was already running miles per hour when he opened his mouth.

"Greetings!"

Beside him, Nami jumped slightly, taken by surprise at his booming voice.

"I am Commodore Marinaro from Marine Headquarters! I've been assigned here due to my father's promotion and sudden death. You can call me Marino. Let's make this base worth the billion Berri it had just received as funding, boys!"

Half hearted cries in agreement swiped through the crowd.

"Luffy, _calm down_!" Sanji's harsh whisper carried over to the sniper's ears and he sighed.

 _Couldn't escape forever._

"I forgot to introduce our newest recruit!" He said with fake enthusiasm. The Strawhats parted to allow their obnoxious captain through.

"This is Lucy and he's happy to meet you all! Now _shoo_." Usopp's efforts to move his captain proved useless. The rubber man stood staring at the crowd and they just stared right back at him with confused looks in their eyes.

" _Shi_ -" A hand slapped the back of his head discreetly. "Nice to meet ya!"

The large grin made most blink.

"Marino-san." One of the officers in the front line addressed the rapidly sweating 'Commodore'. They should have known Luffy will be recognized at the first grin! Every marine would have already seen his bounty poster more than once. "Is he-"

"Ah no!" Usopp's shout echoed in the dark night and the man whished that Franky would return with the Sunny so they could get out of there. Sadly, a thing like that was impossible now and he'd lose his head if he did something to screw up the mission anyway, so the sniper only sighed in defeat. Outwardly, the long nosed man – whose nose had been bandaged because of _reasons_ and he was wearing a pair of sunglasses in the dark for those same reasons – held out a halting hand and declared proudly.

"This is not who you think it is! Rather," he paused for dramatic effect and Luffy blinked up at him, clearly lost while Nami was trying to make him shut up through unobtrusive means, "this man you see in front of you is his one and only _twin brother_!"

Most of the marines' jaws hung open. Already used to absurd lies, Nami had luckily gotten a hold of herself in time to not appear more shocked than needed. On the other hand, the rest of the Strawhats' only saving blessings were the things covering their faces. Unfortunately, Chopper was the only one who had been taken by surprise and seen, but the shocked marine pointing at him had fainted at the ' _shhh'_ the supposed pet had whispered to him.

"Y-You mean that is..." One began, looking at the teen in awe.

"Strawhat Luffy's twin brother?" A bulky man intoned, tears springing at the corners of his eyes.

"Indeed!" Usopp crossed his arms, a cocky smirk spreading on his lips. "Grown by the leaders of the world itself, the Celestial Dragons, he has been training in secret until now! I've been tasked with his supervision and safety by the Fleet Admiral himself! That is why," the sniper's eyes narrowed behind the glasses, which he promptly took off to add more effect, "I will be tasking you with the most important mission. You must keep this a secret and accept him as one of you!"

The soldiers cheered loudly and waved the raven head closer, hoping for a handshake and some words with this new sudden celebrity.

"At least _try_ to not destroy the story I made up for you, okay?" Usopp whispered rapidly and pushed his captain towards his crazy fans.

"Is he going to be alright?" Brook wondered, watching the mob gathered around the raven head. "I should have seen this coming, though. Yohoho~"

"Well, he won't be amazingly recognizable now that his 'identity' is out in the open, even without his cap." Nami pinched the bridge of her nose. "I've made sure to pin his hair in place so he'll hopefully look unlike his wanted poster."

Usopp nodded in relief, though it was short-lived as he once again found himself pinned under the woman's glare.

" _Twins_?" Her growl was low enough to be covered by the crowd. "That was the best you could do?!"

Fortunately, Usopp was saved by Franky's impromptu arrival. The cyborg offered them thumbs up and grinned.

"What is that?!" A random marine found himself in need to point towards the cloaked figure.

"This is a new model for the Pacifista!" By now, the sniper's lies were flowing out smoothly like he had been rehearsing them for days. "Doctor Vegapunk himself entrusted this dangerous and powerful weapon to me to test it. Beware those of you who have a bounty poster!"

The entirety of G-20 laughed before throwing their arms up in the air and applauded their new leader.

The rest of the way between the docks and their new quarters passed by in a blur for the newly promoted pirate. They were shown most of the facilities in the base, such as the canteen – in which Luffy promptly sat down and ordered everything available – the doctor's office – by which time Chopper was pulling at his 'leash' ecstatically – the archives, in which Robin had silently vanished, the training rooms – where Zoro, and by default, Sanji and Brook stepped away from the group – and lastly, his office.

The room was amazingly bright and spacious with a large office desk placed near the balcony behind which stood a map of the New World region they were in and a couple of leftover bounty posters. Rows and rows of bookshelves filled with documents and other assorted paperwork rounded almost the whole room, save for the double glass doors to the outside and another, smaller, doorway through which his sleeping quarters resided.

Usopp had been awestruck at the notion that he wouldn't need to share with anyone – after all this time at sea, and even before, sharing had been ingrained into his being – and he never thought that he would live to see the day when he would be told that he got all that space for his own use and free access to the bathroom whenever he damn felt like it.

Swallowing down the urge to throw himself on the rather big and soft looking king-sized bed, the sniper faced his remaining crewmates that were not gone to mess up the base. Nami, Franky and Chopper stood silently, waiting for him to speak. He only half heard the _goodnights_ the officers shouted or the doors swinging shut.

"I think I'll need to make you a costume like Kuma's." Usopp finally said to Franky.

The man nodded and offered another thumbs up before crossing his arms over his chest.

"I guess I'll be making my headquarters down at the docks." The shipwright considered.

"You should be careful, Franky. They might find the Sunny." Chopper said, speaking for the first time since stepping on Marine soil.

The cyborg nodded and offered a reassuring smile to their doctor. "Don't worry, bro. I'm more interested in researching Navy ships now that the opportunity had presented itself."

Nami's huff was the clear sign of impending doom.

"Those were some good lies right there. I'm impressed."

Usopp wasn't sure if he was more shocked that he hadn't received a blow to the head or that Nami had just complimented him.

"I still don't like it, though..." The doctor's lip jutted out in a cute way.

"I'm sorry, Chopper, but this is the only way you can pass as a normal part of the squad." The navigator patted his head softly.

"Don't you get it, Chopper?" Words burst from Usopp's mouth before he could stop them. "You are an integral part of the operation! Everything is depending on whether or not we'll be discovered, but when we will be..." Defying the laws of physics, one of his eyes blinked in mischief, "They will be too awed by the sight of the bravest warrior of the sea ridding on the back of his trusted friend into the sunset to do anything!"

His dramatic explanation made Nami roll her eyes and Franky chuckle, but left Chopper with mouth agape and eyes full of stars.

Nodding fervently, he smiled at his friend. "I got it! Leave it to me!"

"We'll see you tomorrow, Usopp." Nami said before departing along with the others.

Sighing tiredly, the sniper had eyes only for his bed. Barely managing to take off his coat and undo a couple of buttons, he threw himself on the bed and fell asleep before his head hit the pillow.

* * *

"Uso-"

 _SLAP_

Rushed whispers.

"Marino- _san_! Wake up!"

Usopp stirred and groaned in his sleep, cracking an eye long enough to glance at the conveniently placed clock on his nightstand before going back to sleep. It took his tired brain a couple more seconds before he realized how late the time was.

With a mighty yelp, the sniper effectively jumped out of the bed and sped to the bathroom before proceeding to dart about the room like a sheep without head.

"What the hell are you doing?" A female voice stopped his random running and he looked up to see a blonde version of his crewmate along with his disguised captain.

The shock came when he realized that Luffy was still dressed as a Marine and no alarm was on.

"I know, I was surprised, too. It seems like our captain can understand things like being inconspicuous." The navigator grinned cheekily at the pout on the rubber man's face.

"Those guys in my room are no fun! I wanna share with Usopp!" The raven head whined. "He has enough room."

"Well-" Usopp scratched his head, truly wanting to say yes, but Nami was not on the same thought wave.

"No." The woman said firmly. "You are a new recruit, you can't receive special treatment. Especially since Usopp himself had told them that they should treat you like every other new guy coming here."

Luffy threw the sniper a weak glare that was met with a shrug.

"Now come on, you will miss what is left of breakfast and you can't work on an empty stomach!"

Ironically, Usopp's stomach dropped at her words.

* * *

 _THREE DAYS LATER_

 _Giant fish, tornadoes, islands that spit fire and ice, killing gas and too many madmen to count and I will ultimately meet my demise by paperwork,_ Usopp thought disdainfully, watching the white skyscraper swish mockingly in the light breeze coming from the outside. It didn't help that the weather was basically heavenly and very rare to see in the New World. Perfect for a full day of navigating, but no. They had to infiltrate this stupid base so Nami wouldn't kill them and whine about it for _years_ afterwards. And of course, Usopp had to be stuck here, his job easily the most scarring given his dynamic nature. He hated the orange haired woman for this and he hated Luffy for giving in so easily.

And he hated this base and the stupid paperwork.

Not for the first time, he was glad that he had chosen the life of a pirate. Marines had to deal with too much shit and even less action in his opinion. Sighing in exasperation, the man picked his discarded pen back up and started scribbling his new fake signature on the papers left in front of him. Those illiterate scrawls would surely raise many questions when the documents will arrive at Headquarters, but he could care less in that moment. He didn't intend to send them in yet and he was sure as hell that by the time those idiots realized something was amiss, they will be well gone from here. Surely the Marine organization couldn't keep track of _everyone_ within it.

"Usopp, I'm _bored..._ " Chopper drawled from his spot on the ground next to his quarters' doorway. The reindeer was strewn across a blanket on the ground, looking relaxed and content with the world.

Usopp knew this wasn't the case. His friend was suffering from the same thing he did – sea withdrawal. It was truly taking a toll on them all. His eyes fell on his hand – still in the middle of scribbling another signature – and back to his friend and he grinned.

Throwing the pen away to the other side of the room, the sniper stood up and walked over to his bored friend and crouched down with a grin.

"How about we take a walk then?"

Chopper's face broke into a happy smile and the reindeer nodded and jumped to his feet. Usopp had only time to catch the end of his leash before he was dragged out of the room by the excited doctor.

"Where should we go first?" Chopper asked a few minutes later as they patrolled the halls. By now they had learned most of the important places.

Usopp almost had a heart attack, but sighed in relief when he saw that no one was in sight.

"Calm down, I learned to always make sure before speaking." His friend said, obviously having repeated the same thing a couple more times.

"How about the cafeteria? I'm a little hungry." Usopp admitted, patting his growling stomach pointedly. "Then we can take a look outside."

Chopper nodded and maneuvered through a couple more corridors before they arrived at another set of double doors. Usopp pushed them open and what greeted them was, summed in one word, anarchy. And in the centre of it all was, again, unsurprisingly, their captain.

"Commodore Marino!" One of the bulky ones from the Bulk squad – as dubbed by Chopper – appeared on his right, looking more or less horrified and full of former edible things.

"What is this?" The sniper appealed to his most dangerous tone.

"S-Sir!" The bigger man stuttered, leaving Usopp baffled in his wake. "Lucy-sama is eating everything again!"

 _Again, huh._

"Wait, 'Lucy- _sama_ '?" The man raised an eyebrow, clearly asking the guy what the hell was that all about.

"That's how everyone calls him. He _is_ our hidden weapon against that Strawhat after all. I'm sure no one, not even the Fleet Admiral, had held such precious information in his hands until recently. When he will be ready, the Strawhat Pirates would certainly be annihilated!"

The casual way he was speaking did not reassure Usopp in the least and actually forced him to reconsider some of his lies. Now he knew that most of them were complete bullshit through and through, but there were times when they ultimately proved to become true. The sniper shuddered involuntarily and he sent a mental prayer to any deity free enough to pay attention to it that it wouldn't end up with his captain having to confront his marine twin under the protection of the Nobles. That would be the mess of the century, especially since Luffy would be _very_ conflicted about it.

"... I mean, how does he even fit that all in his stomach?" Bulky was saying, though he only managed to catch the last part of his question.

The man pointed to the balloon caricature seated at one of the long tables, gorging down all the food in sight.

"Marino-san!" A man exited what could only be the kitchen. "Please say something to Lucy-sama. We have just restocked two days ago, but if this continues we will have to restock again by tomorrow!"

Usopp sighed and massaged his temples.

"Chopper, you go ahead and eat without me. I will come in a few minutes."

Bulky and the cook blinked when the reindeer seemed to nod and walk off in the direction its master ordered it to, but they shrugged it off as one of their new Commodore's skills of training his pets. Unlike his stupid father, who let his tiger loose on the new recruits. That had been part of the reason they received that large sum of money in the first place. Too many men fell at the paws of that beast. Even pirates usually dealt a lot less damage.

"Lucy!" Usopp called as he slid in the seat opposite his captain's. The raven head stopped in his mad dash to wait for him to continue. The sniper grimaced. He didn't like to keep his friend from gorging everything down – hell, he couldn't care less! – but their mission rang clearly in his head. And worse, it was in Nami's voice.

"Please stop eating everything. These guys will get suspicious." He hoped his whisper carried over to the other side of the table.

Luffy blinked but nodded slowly. "Sorry, sorry. I didn't mean to get you in trouble."

"That's not the problem." Usopp shook his head, watching his friend search for a glass of water to wash down all that grime from his meals. "But Nami still hasn't managed to breach that thing. She and Franky have been trying every day and even I went there once, but the lock is a little too complicated. And of course she wouldn't call off the mission!"

A rubber hand stretched to unnatural lengths towards a stray glass at the edge of the table.

"Say what, I will let you eat everything you want before we leave here if you behave in front of these idiots."

Luffy mirrored his sniper's grin and he nodded again, hopping off the bench. " _Yosh_ , I'm going to train!" The rubber man threw his hands up in the air, but Bulky speaking behind them stopped his exit.

"What was that?"

"What was what?" Usopp snapped, not in the mood to deal with morons.

"He just stretched his hand to the end of the table." The man made a sweeping motion with his index finger in demonstration. "And then it snapped back like a rubber band."

The sniper abstained from slamming his forehead hard on the table. Instead, he let a devilish grin split his face and stood up.

"Gentlemen," he paused dramatically, dragging his finger on the surface of the table as he walked along it, "you have just discovered another amazing anomaly of this world we live in called the Greater Powers or the Wills of the Ages."

Most officers looked confused, but Usopp plowed on without fear.

"It has been discovered and demonstrated by our very own Lucy that Devil Fruits can affect both twins." Several gasps echoed through the room. "You see, because twins usually have an innate ability of telepathy, the Devil Fruits simply transmit their powers through that. So please excuse our dear Lucy here for his sudden demonstration, but indeed, you have just witnessed the legendary 'Gomu Gomu no Mi' and its powers!"

A short-lived silence settled before it was broken by a brave soul.

"But sir, I have a twin and I've eaten a Devil Fruit, but he doesn't have my powers!"

Usopp mentally kicked himself. Time for Plan B.

"Are you fraternal or identical twins?"

The officer blinked. "Fraternal, sir."

His superior allowed himself to breathe a sigh of relief at the information. They still had a way out.

"Well, it's obvious it won't work! This only works on identical twins because they have stronger mental bonds!"

His bluffing paid off when one after the other, the marines all nodded and resumed their business. Usopp gave Luffy a nod and a smile which the pirate captain reciprocated.

The sound of the doors closing guided Usopp to Chopper's table. Well, the table next to where Chopper was eating. From a bowl on the ground. Needless to say, there have been enough shouting matches about this before the doctor had been mellowed down somewhat at the notion that his sacrifice will pay off in the near future.

"I don't have to be a doctor to know that what you said is simply impossible." The reindeer whispered and Usopp stifled a snort.

"Cut me some slack. How was I supposed to explain it to them? That idiot can't stay inconspicuous to save his life!" He complained, playing with his food. This stew didn't look so amazing, but he could easily see that Sanji had a hand in making the sauce. It was the only and best part of the food.

Chopper masked his laughter by taking another bite from his meal. Usopp had made it clear that the reindeer was to be served whatever the recruits ate, saving him from the dooming fate of having to eat whatever disgusting animal food these people kept here.

They ate in silence for a few minutes before Usopp had wiped the bowl clean of sauce and took a few more bites from the meat before deciding he had had enough and sat up. By then Chopper had finished with his meal and was waiting for him patiently, very unlike his normal self who would be jumping around full of energy.

"How about the training rooms now?" The sniper asked and his friend nodded, guiding him easily to their destination.

It was no surprise to see Zoro in the middle of lifting up huge weights in his arms.

"Oh, you guys are here." Sanji's voice coming from their left distracted the two long enough to glance away from the suddenly stumbling form of the green haired man.

"Goddamn, can't you knock?!" Zoro grunted, picking himself up from the floor.

"Why is he so shocked?" Chopper asked innocently.

The blond cook snorted and took another drag from his cigarette before answering.

"He's always on edge since he discarded his disguise."

Now that Usopp was looking again, it was true. Brook and Sanji had taken their hats off as well, but only Zoro was the most exposed, being in the centre of the room and in only his pants.

"You guys have been here for _three days_?" The fake Commodore asked incredulously.

"Not at all. We've been travelling to and fro from the kitchen to the training rooms and sometimes we take refreshing walks outside. I always feel more energized after inhaling the fresh air... though I don't have any lungs. Yohoho!" Brook's joke was a little anti-climatic, but the two pirates were already used to them.

"By the way, Usopp." Sanji calling his name turned his attention away from scolding Zoro about his clothes. "Did you know that there's a town on the other side of the mountain?"

The sniper blinked and shook his head. "No. I'm surprised Nami didn't tell us."

"Probably didn't know. Stupid witch, marching in unprepared." The swordsman mumbled around the new weight in his mouth.

"Don't you call Nami- _swan_ that, you stupid algae brain!" Sanji was immediately on his feet and glaring.

Zoro glared right back and Brook sighed audibly through his nonexistent lungs.

Usopp shook his head and glanced at Chopper.

"I think we're done here."

The reindeer laughed audibly and followed his friend out of the room.

"Oh, Usopp, Chopper!"

The two jumped in surprise and shrieked loudly when a dark form suddenly loomed over them threateningly. Usopp had his cross out in a flash and was whispering chants to banish evil spirits while Chopper stood trembling behind him when the figure spoke again.

"What are you two doing on the ground?"

As fast as it came, the image cleared and they were standing once again in the hallway. Robin stared down at the two in confusion and Usopp felt his face flare.

"Sorry, it was an exercise in case bad spirits would appear." The sniper jumped to his feet and cleared his throat awkwardly. "What are _you_ doing around here?"

The archaeologist smiled and beckoned them towards a door farther down from the training room. It was at the end of the hallway and looked unused to say the least. Spider webs hung from the bookshelves and the floor was so dusted that their footsteps left prints with each step.

"What's in here, Robin?" Usopp asked, a note of fear entering his voice.

"These are the Archives." The black haired woman informed them, closing the door and tucking her hair away from her face and behind her ear. "One of the rooms, actually. From what I gathered, this is the third oldest one."

"There are more rooms for Archives?" Chopper perched up at the information.

"Yes, it seems that this base was one of the first ones to be created by the Marine organization." Robin explained, moving along the shelves to the other side of the room. "I've been reading the logs and everything of interest that I could find stacked in here."

"Did you find something?" Usopp questioned as he and Chopper followed her.

"Not yet." Her voice was soft, almost mingling with the dust in the air. "But I have a feeling this base isn't just a useless piece of junk in the middle of the New World." Robin's words stopped as abruptly as her steps.

"Robin?" The doctor looked up at his crewmate worriedly.

"Actually, I did find something." She conceded in the end with a small sigh. "But I will need you two to keep this quiet."

* * *

 _"The chances of it actually happening are very low anyway."_

Usopp sighed as he dragged himself down the stairs behind Chopper, walking deeper into the base.

"I don't know if I want it to happen or not..." The sniper whined.

"Don't worry. Robin said that it probably won't." Chopper tried to reassure his friend, but somehow managed to make the sniper's mood degrade even further.

"State your name and business here." A robotic voice cut their conversation short.

"Franky, it's us!" The reindeer cried excitedly, galloping towards the blue haired cyborg.

Franky's metallic shoulders sagged in relief and he gave them a weak smile.

"Yo!"

"How's it going?" Usopp asked, brushing off his earlier depression.

By the looks of it, the thieving wasn't going so well. The corridor was full of scattered pieces of metal and other instruments that might have been tools to get it to open, but was now only junk. In front of the thick door of the safe itself, the floor was even more a mess than the rest of the space. Even open books were thrown here and there, making it a veritable obstacle ride.

"Not good." There was clear irritation in the shipwright's voice. "You should try tonight again, too."

The sniper nodded and scratched his head, carefully maneuvering around the junk on the floor in order to get closer to the current thing causing them headaches.

"I don't get how it can be this unbreachable!"

Chopper nodded fervently from behind. "You guys broke into G-8's safe that was supposed to be a fortress!"

"Yeah... and it was even more complicated than this one." Usopp whispered, his eyes searching for any hint that they might have overlooked.

"Where's Nami?" The pirate doctor asked after a few moments of silence.

"She went back to Usopp's office to search inside the documents. Maybe there's something written in there." Franky explained, sitting down on the tiled floor. "By the way, bro. You should place me here fulltime from now on. Maybe I will be able to find something if I go wild. Might get Nami out of here for a change, too."

"She's been here the whole time?" Chopper intoned incredulously, concern written all over his face.

The cyborg's only answer was a pointed thumb in the direction of a door they hadn't noticed until then. It was only slightly open, but the reindeer could clearly make out its true purpose. A broom closet. Nami has been sleeping in a broom closet for _three days_.

"That woman's crazy, I'm telling you." Usopp shook his head, turning his back towards the damned source of all their problems in defeat. "Let's get out of here, Chopper. I will make sure to announce them, Franky! You just make sure we get this open before we really become Marines."

Franky chuckled and nodded as he watched them climb up the stairs.

The duo was almost at the exit of the base when a small crowd down the hall attracted their attention. Three soldiers were fighting a losing battle, and in the middle of it all, was Nami. Her blonde hair was disheveled and she had one fist dangerously close to a man's face and a fiery scowl on her face.

"What's happening here?" Using his most authoritative voice, Usopp approached the small commotion. "What has my poor secretary done to you people?"

One of the freer officers turned around and saluted. "Sir! We found her looking through the documents inside your office and generally making a mess out of the room."

The sniper's eyebrow twitched, but he offered a reassuring smile, surprising the soldiers.

"Ah, she was acting on my orders. I granted her permission, though I don't believe the mess was part of them." He glared at the navigator and the woman huffed and returned the favor.

"Are you sure, sir?" Another random soul that he had never seen asked uncertainly.

Usopp nodded and patted one of the closest one's back. "Yes, don't worry about it. Also, please inform everyone that the safe hall is off-limits from now on. I ordered the Pacifista to guard it as a form of test. If you don't wish to be obliterated, I suggest you and everyone else stay away from that sector."

The three looked shocked, but nodded nonetheless and made their way back into the base.

"You could be at least a little _inconspicuous_. And you're telling Luffy he's not..." The pirate said, watching Nami with a puzzled look. "You look awful." He added as an afterthought.

"Are you okay, Nami?" Seeing the coast was clear, Chopper spoke quietly.

The blonde woman sighed and all but slumped to the floor. Her crewmates were alarmed by the behavior and crouched down to help her.

"It's no use. I can't find anything there either!" Nami's voice quivered and not for the first time Usopp saw how much effort she was putting into this thieving.

"Are you sure you searched everywhere?" The sniper asked as he guided her outside under the sun and sat her down on a nearby bench.

"Not really _everywhere_ , but I've searched enough places where it might have been and found nothing."

"You can't give up, Nami!" Usopp cried quietly, eyeing the patrolling recruits and the training groups wearily. "We're all here with you. I'll take a look again tonight and Franky's staying there from now on. We'll get that billion even if we have to attack together and destroy it!"

As if to accentuate his words, Luffy's shout was heard from the background and they turned to see the rubber man bounce up and down to the amusement of the other recruits. Usopp was by now convinced that these people were too trusting and stupid or else he couldn't figure out how their plan had worked so well for _three days_.

The blonde looked up with wide eyes and a smile slowly bloomed on her face. With renewed hope and vigor, she stood up abruptly from the bench.

"Yeah, I can do it! Thanks for the help, guys." Throwing one last grin at the two and her distracted captain, Nami made her way back into the base and out of sight.

"Commodore Marino!" One of the patrolling guards approached and Usopp immediately slipped into role.

"Yes?"

"Sir!" The man saluted once again, stopping a few paces from his seat. "The townspeople are insisting to meet and welcome you to the base. They will be preparing a feast tomorrow and requested that you join them."

Usopp considered it for a moment. It shouldn't be bad and he'd be able to give everyone a little break from the continuous tension they've been living in. Being in a Marine base was taking its toll on them all. Even Zoro was being jumpy and Luffy was actually _listening_ to orders.

"Alright! We'll make sure to be there."

* * *

 _NEXT DAY_

"And it's a good chance to patrol the town, too!" The fake Commodore was saying as he led the Strawhats down the mountain path.

In front and behind them, four marine officers were keeping an eye out for any danger, though they only proved to be nuances to the disguised pirates.

Nami puffed her cheeks but said nothing. After yesterday's boost of confidence, she was itching to do some more digging inside his office. Needless to say, Usoppp didn't think he would ever get around to tidying _that_ utter mess up.

"One of the best ideas you could come up with, Usopp-san. It will be a great way to enjoy ourselves! Yohoho!" Brook spoke quietly from between Zoro and Sanji. The musician had made it his personal mission to keep these two from starting an argument and destroying their covers.

" _Whohoo_! I can't wait for the feast!" Luffy predictably cried out, surprising the four marines. The pirate kept jumping up and down with his hands in the air and Usopp counted the seconds until he'd trip and roll down the hill.

He felt Chopper nudge his hand and he looked down to see the doctor offer a small smile and he grinned back.

"Indeed. It's going to be interesting." Robin spoke from the back of the group and the sniper saw the officers shudder quite violently.

 _Seems like Robin's been occupied_ , the long nosed man snickered, though he could somehow sympathize with them, seeing as even he'd be having nightmares for a while. Robin with her hair over her face and a black coat was not a good idea. The only thing missing thing from the horrifying image was a butcher's knife full of blood.

Fortunately for the men keeping up the rear, Franky was acting like a barrier, his steady steps being more loud and forceful in order to imitate the Pacifista.

Luffy cheered as the small town came into view. It wasn't bigger than his own village, Usopp thought, suddenly nostalgic, though being incased in the gulf surely made it seem bigger and more compact. The rows of houses built in the rocky mountain surface had each a little garden of its own where trees and flowers grew. The constructions themselves were simplistic, but they had a cozy air about them that made the sniper feel welcomed and at ease. The village itself stopped at the beginning of the small stretch of white sand and beyond the beach, the ocean's waters lingered calm in the high sun bathing the wooden docks. The small town divided exactly at its middle in a square where a fountain was visible, encircled by shops and stalls.

"Pirate ship detected." Franky's drawled announcement destroyed the positive mood hanging over them.

The marines stiffened and readied their guns.

"Sir! Should we return to the base and take reinforcements?" One of them asked, eyes dancing between the skull and bones flag to his superior.

Usopp gulped. He wasn't sure if they would be able to deal with them without fighting, but maybe they had a chance of scaring them away.

"Anyone important?" He asked the general audience.

"Don't think so..." Nami whispered.

"I've never seen their flag, but they must be pretty powerful to be able to survive the New World." Robin stepped closer to the sniper, her visible eye alight with curiosity.

Usopp resisted the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose.

"We might be able to deal with them so let's just go. While we take reinforcements the pirates could very well leave. Plus, we can't be late for the feast."

The four marines blinked at their superior's relaxed attitude. They were doubtful of his positive overlook of the situation, especially since he was new to his post.

"Sir, are you sure?" One of them asked, clearly doubtful. "The pirates travelling these parts are quite powerful."

The men blinked again when the Commodore stumbled over thin air, but any amusement was wiped from their minds when they heard the foreboding giggle of the 'Lady in Black', as dubbed between the lower ranks, and they resisted the urge to shiver and make a run for it. Ever since she came back, that strange woman had been even more sadistic in her prank choices, not to mention that all of them dreaded the night shift. Walking through the corridors at midnight and meeting with _that_ was enough to give anyone nightmares. Especially when several bonus limbs sprouted from her form as she talked.

"Yes, yes, don't worry!" Usopp said quickly, cursing his inattentiveness inside his mind. With newfound determination, he moved to the front of the group and started the descent towards the first row of houses. Luffy ran to catch up with his friend, eyes alight with newfound interest.

"Lucy." Pinned raven bangs moved as their owner regarded him curiously. Usopp took the time to place his sunglasses back in place. "If it looks to be going bad, use Conqueror's to knock them out."

Luffy nodded, grinning.

"And put your cap back on, please."

* * *

" _Eh_? What did'ya bastard say ta meh?"

Usopp's eye pulsed dangerously at the utter show of idiocy and he quickly concluded that this was one of those pirate crews that got off easy in the New World because the greater forces had taken pity on them and decided that the world was still in need of idiots to walk its lands. Else he couldn't explain how someone could answer like that to his simple request. He had mustered up all the manners he had ever learned to appear polite and unthreatening – a little _too_ unthreatening, now that he thought about it – to the relatively medium-sized pirate crew. Their ship was barely bigger than the Sunny and their captain hardly older than them, yet he was an idiot no matter how you put it. And not an idiot like Luffy – no, he was leagues off in that aspect – but a through and through idiot that couldn't distinguish people being friendly from enemies. It didn't help that he gave off the air of someone only thinking about saving his own skin.

Two thugs stepped forward with their utterly horrible smells and Usopp felt compelled to take a step back. His nostrils didn't deserve the torment.

 _Wait, since when did I begin to be so picky? Am I beginning to be_ _ **too**_ _in character?! Or is it that the smell can easily compete with one of corpses in decay? Do these guys not have showers or what?_

Seeing as even Luffy, who was the closest to them besides him, was scrunching up his nose in disgust, he sighed in relief. So he wasn't the only one.

"Now you see? This is why I don't like Marines!" The captain said, ruffling his disheveled brown hair with his dirtied hand. "They think they're better than everyone, but all pirates know they are just pushovers that can't do any damage. Let me tell you something!"

The man declared, opening his arms wide and facing the crowds of villagers gathered in a wide circle around them. All of their faces were white as sheets and scared, especially since the pirates had been close to setting fire to their homes when the group stepped in.

"Those who join the Marines are weak! They are those too scared and weak to pursue the life of a pirate! To live a man's one true way to greatness: becoming the conqueror of all seas!" The man looked at the fake marines pointedly. "The New World doesn't scare me, I was born here! And if I can control it, then I can do the same to Paradise and the Blues!" Grey eyes glinted in the fiery sunrays. "And the one who controls them will ultimately become the Pirate King! We already have a lead to Raftel. With my navigational skills, I can make Pirate King in a week!" His head fell back in a sudden burst of laughter which was echoed all around by his crewmates.

The crowds shifted restlessly, all faces horrified.

Luffy's eyes were shadowed by his cap and it looked as intimidating as always, though the Strawhats collectively decided that the yellow straw hat would have added more effect.

"You're playing a dangerous game." The rubber man's words tumbled throughout the suddenly silent square.

The brown haired man cocked an eyebrow, surprised that anyone would have the gall to argue with him.

"Don't forget that you aren't the only ones sailing on this ocean. Every pirate setting out for the Grand Line wants to become Pirate King, but it would be a stupid quest if it would be so easy. Useless thugs assaulting towns and destroying peoples' lives don't have the right to call themselves kings of the ocean! Not while I'm around!" A powerful force-like wave erupted from the pirate captain as he locked gazes with the shocked man. In a split of second, every man on his crew was down on the ground, foaming at the mouth.

"What..." For the first time, the man was sweating bullets and looking at Luffy in fear.

"You should do well to remember those words." Usopp found himself saying before the man's eyes rolled to the back of his head and his body hit the ground hard. "Good job, Lucy." The sniper winked and his captain grinned back.

Cheers erupted after a few choking seconds of the remaining silence and the villagers swarmed around them, offering thanks and a million greetings per second. Usopp found himself a little overwhelmed, but things quickly settled into a party rhythm and he found himself not long after sundown sitting on a log near the large campfire, gazing at it deep in thought.

"Sir!" One of the officers that were with them earlier today approached, standing rigidly in front of him.

Usopp nodded his head reflexively.

"We've been thinking about Lucy-sama's words."

This piece of information did not sit quite right with Usopp. In a split second, his earlier melancholy melted into fear. Did they read too much into it? Had Luffy really said too much?

"And we believe he was right."

Usopp exhaled in relief.

"Being Strawhat Luffy's twin brother and growing up with the Celestial Dragons was sure to make him very powerful, but he has surprised us today. He simply had to glare at them and those pirates dropped down like flies. His words inspired us and we'll follow you and him forever!" Suddenly, the other three marines were behind the first one. The quartet bowed as one with noticeable teary eyes and said.

"We will inform everyone at the base of our superiors' feat!"

The sniper blinked and nodded slowly, not quite sure what had happened. One thing he was sure of, though: now they had to add a marine base to their growing list of followers.

Looking back at Luffy's partying form, he couldn't help but smile. He was really the only one who could really enjoy the feast as it was. Zoro was content drinking beer while leaning on a nearby log. Brook had conspicuously gotten a violin from somewhere and was contributing to the music, but the sniper could _feel_ Sanji's glower and his restlessness. The cook had really wanted to study this village's recipes, but his companions sadly didn't. Though Usopp knew that at some point he had been wandering around alone. Franky had disappeared at some point, presumably to steal whatever he could from the defeated pirates and haul their asses back on their ship before lifting the anchor and letting them be taken by the currents to somewhere. If they were lucky, none of them would die before they woke up. Usopp knew that Luffy's blast had been a touch more powerful than truly needed, but the sniper could sympathize with him.

Nami was in the middle of a drinking contest, while Robin had opted to join Zoro and Brook on the log. The archaeologist was patting Chopper's head pityingly while the reindeer quietly sniveled about the unfairness of the world. Usopp tried to form a reassuring smile, but found his lips sealed tightly instead. He was really starting to regret taking part in this mission. All things considered, it was a matter of time before something big would happen. And Usopp wasn't sure if he was prepared for that.

* * *

 **A/N: Yo!**

 **So this is my tribute to the awesome filler arc of G-8 xD If you hadn't seen it, you should give it a shot. Lots of fun moments!**

 **Obviously this won't be as good as the arc in itself, but I will try and hope! Though it _will_ certainly be very different! So don't place it under the copied-from-the-episodes category, 'cause it's not (if there is one of those...)**

 **Anyway, this is me hurrying to post all my finished fics before school comes to punch me in the face D;**

 **I hope you enjoyed the first chapter! Don't forget to leave a review with your thoughts!**

 **Until next time~**


	2. Chapter 2

The party from yesterday had been in the villagers' eyes viewed like a treaty between them and the Marine base and for the last three days, citizens have been coming and leaving from the weaponized fortress whenever they damn wanted, thus succeeding in making Usopp a little jumpier than usual. He hadn't realized that the reason why no one had popped up before their first visit of the town has been because they didn't know what to expect of the new leadership. The sniper was truly curious to know what kind of a bastard his predecessor had been, but abstained in fear of this being a taboo subject of conversation since no one ever brought it up.

Besides, the long nosed man didn't mind it much. These people only came to bring them wood and supplies, sometimes even pies made by the old baker's shop that was famous in the area. Fifty cherry pies that had escaped Luffy's wrath.

The raven head hadn't even wanted to look at the innocent pastries, instead locking himself up in Usopp's office to avoid having anything to do with the cherry madness. Needless to say, the base had thrown a party that night as well and no one had gone hungry. Truly a miracle if he stopped to think about it.

And on an even more optimistic note, he, Nami and Franky were very close to breaking the code and opening the safe. They only needed three digits left that had been somehow erased from the original documents and they were left with fewer options, but Robin had offered to check on the Archives one more time in the hope that a clue had been left there.

By this time, Usopp was half wondering whether it would work to send Headquarters a letter and ask if they had any idea, though he banished the thoughts as fast as they came. Even if they did, using his fake signature would surely raise some questions, not to mention his not so creative name.

"Usopp!" Nami snapped form the direction of the door. "You needed to oversee the training of the recruits today!"

The sniper groaned, but sat up from his seat and headed to the door. "I forgot..."

"Well don't anymore, won't you?" The blonde placed her hands on her hips angrily. "You wasted me precious seconds by making me come here to remind you!" Her scowl suddenly transformed into a cheeky grin. "We managed to find another digit. It's going to be a piece of cake from now on."

Usopp felt like some of the tension from the past week had lifted from his chest. "Hurry it up. I don't want to stay here anymore!"

Nami nodded with a sympathetic smile on her face. "Me neither. We will make sure to have it open by the day after tomorrow at the latest."

The long nosed man groaned, following her into the hallway. Great, another three days of playing marine.

"That is, if you'd stop making me come here every time you have something to do!"

"Got it, got it! Sorry."

* * *

The furious sun beating down his back did not make the current situation any easier. Usopp fought hard not to nod off and become the latest gossip subject of the whole base, but he couldn't help it. These guys were just running around, doing fake shooting tactics and whatnot! There was nothing in their training regimen that actually applied to a real fight against bloodthirsty pirates. They'd be lucky to defend the small village on the other side of the mountain at this rate!

Rubbing his temples in exasperation, the sniper's eyes combed the training grounds for his captain and stopped short a little further away. He snorted. The idiot was munching on a piece of meat, completely oblivious to the fact that he should be out there, training like hell. Of course, 'like hell' was a loose term, considering that these people were probably sweating because of the sun, not the effort.

"Ugh, I can't stand this anymore! Chopper," the reindeer perched up from his spot on the ground at hearing his name called, "please call everyone here. I need to bring a little fun in these people's lives."

Chopper mirrored his friend's devilish grin and ran away as fast as he could. In less than ten minutes, all the Strawhats were assembled, standing in front of Usopp.

"What." Nami spat the word like poison.

"I was thinking that you guys would be bored. What do you say about lifting this atmosphere up a little?" The sniper's grin never disappeared as he jutted his head towards the recruits, currently doing pushups and faking groans just for the hell of it, he was sure.

The navigator opened her mouth to retaliate, but Zoro cut her off.

"Why not? I've been itching to beat the shit out of someone for a while now." The blood-curling grin was pulsing behind the piece of paper over his face. Usopp wondered how it didn't catch fire.

"For once, I agree with the shitty _marimo_." Sanji sighed.

"Then by all means," Usopp opened his arms with a flourish to encase their future victims, "have fun!"

That was all the invitation Strawhats really needed. Franky stepped up first, firing a couple of beams meant to scare off the lounging officers. The effect was immediate as everyone scrambled to their feet, looking like scared chicken and clutching their weapons tightly as they tried to make sense of the incoming danger. Zoro, Sanji and Brook all but jumped into the middle of them, the two swordsmen attacking left and right – albeit Brook's form was a little awkward fighting with Shuusui. The blond cook had taken out the sword at his waist only for show, resuming to using his general attacks while waving the weapon around clumsily, though still managing to club a few men right in the face.

"You idiot, stop that or I'm taking your head off right now!" The green haired swordsman roared over the general commotion of the battlefield. A few people yelped out of his way upon hearing the dangerous tone for the first time.

"Oi, oi, don't take them out, this should be training!" Usopp yelled to no avail. He watched as Chopper attacked left and right with his antlers, the officers barely managing to keep him at bay. After a while, they gave up and resumed to running around, hoping to chase him off. Though unfortunately for them, the doctor had accumulated too much energy to become tired any time soon.

" _Woah_ , training is much more interesting now!" Their captain suddenly appeared in front of Zoro, gulping down the last of his meal and started a one on one battle with him, which the swordsman gladly accepted with a smirk.

The sniper looked on incredulously as Robin only walked around, scaring the hell out of anyone in her way and summoning random limbs to trip a few unlucky souls that were running away from their enemies. Her eye twinkled in amusement and Usopp was suddenly not so disturbed anymore by her morbid comments than he was by this.

While Franky was still firing beams around, Usopp took the time to set up his slingshot and launched a couple of fire stars and Pop Greens, intending more to scare his subordinates than do anything too damaging. His friends were doing enough of it, though this was truly liberating in its own way.

The roar of thunder destroyed his concentration a few minutes later and the sniper almost sighed. A light drizzle had replaced the summer sun, the dark cloud over the island giving an ominous feeling while lightning was threatening to strike the ground at any wrong move. Usopp saw Nami's sharp grin and he knew his supposed subordinates were done for. Silently, he passed on a prayer in the hope of a better tomorrow, after which he concentrated on rounding up the headless chickens still running around the training grounds. Luffy was truly the happiest of them all, still locked in battle with Zoro and none of them minding the incoming doom.

"In a real fight against pirates and the forces of nature, anything can happen! You are not allowed a moment's rest and neither should you allow your enemies one either! Stand up and fight, this is what a real battle feels like, not the organized shit they've been drilling in your heads!" The sniper roared over the sound of thunder.

As if summoned by his words, Nami slammed her Clima-Tact into the ground and a column of white light descended from the heavens like a battleaxe. Usopp saw white for a couple more moments before his vision cleared enough to see the extent of the damage. Only Luffy and Zoro were left standing on the destroyed training grounds while smoking bodies were scattered around them in a gory show of utter annihilation.

The Commodore sighed. Seemed like he had a new training regimen to organize and apply. He did not like giving their enemies something to work with, but he supposed these guys were pitiable enough to be offered _some_ help. He was such a generous soul, after all.

* * *

"Finally!" Nami's shout of delight echoed throughout the hallway. Immediately, her companions started shushing her.

Usopp was surprised to see all his crewmates assembling, though he supposed the reason was important enough. After yet another three days – the number was truly becoming too repetitive, he thought dryly – of work he, Franky and Nami finally got the combination right.

As the heavy door slowly screeched open, the sniper's memory briefly flashed to everything they've been through during their stay at this base mostly because of Nami's insistence and he swore that if that billion wasn't there he'd blow up the whole place and treat the navigator with the cold shoulder for a year afterwards.

They maybe didn't know it, but his job had been the most stressful of them all. It was easy to cover for yourself, but when you had to invent all kinds of reasons for _eight_ other people because they either started talking when they should be an animal or because they should have been silent assassins, but still showed up in the kitchen randomly and cooked a three course meal, everything became much more complicated.

But whatever his doubts were, they were quickly erased when the metallic door heaved to a halt and the room beyond opened up in front of their eyes. Rows after rows of shelves were attached to the walls, most occupied by standard marine guns and swords, though the rightmost corner was the one that mattered the most in that moment. Over the length of the wall, bills after bills of Berris were placed carefully on them, lined one next to the other in such an orderly manner that it even made Nami's precious treasure room seem messy. Usopp snorted at the display – these guys had time to make sure they put their money on display, but they still weren't half as powerful as they should have been for marines in the New World.

"I've been waiting so much time to meet you!" The navigator exclaimed through teary eyes, caressing one bill with an obscene amount of love.

"Nami- _swan_ is so cute when she's blushing like that!" Sanji gushed, his eyes already beating hearts.

"I don't think this is even healthy." Zoro mumbled on Brook's other side and Franky snorted in amusement at the sight.

Somehow, the blonde haired woman had twinkling stars dancing around her now.

"This is what you wanted, Nami?" Luffy asked, curiously poking at the inanimate bills with an air of profound disappointment.

"Yes!" Nami gleefully exclaimed before she swiveled in place and pinned her crewmates with an unmerciful glare. "We have to make this pronto, understand? I want work and discretion!"

Usopp sighed. "Yeah, yeah."

Robin giggled and stepped away from the group to study a stack of crates a few meters away.

"I am afraid we will have to do this in the darkness." Brook intervened, his empty eye sockets gazing at the money in concern. He was doubting they could move so much money around the base without being asked any questions.

"And maybe find some bags to move them around in." The shipwright added, scratching his chin.

"Usopp!" Chopper chose that moment to burst through the doorway, looking bewildered and scared.

The sniper in question groaned and slumped on the wall. "What is it _now_?" He whined, desperately hoping nothing too big was.

"I didn't really understand, but there was a lot of screaming about a ship!"

"Could they have discovered the Sunny?" Zoro asked immediately and Franky clenched his massive fists tightly, ready to defend his masterpiece.

"I doubt it." Robin whispered, still next to the wooden crates. Only now, Usopp noticed, the upmost one was opened. The archaeologist stretched one hand into the box and lifted a flowing black material from it while her eyes locked on Usopp's wide ones as understanding dawned on him rather painfully. "Luck isn't on our side this time either, sniper."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Nami asked fearfully, looking from the obvious pirate flag to Usopp and back. "What are you hiding from us?!"

The resident sniper heaved a deep sigh as he picked himself up from the ground. He did not even know where to begin.

"You will see. Nami, you and Franky find a way to get all this money on the Sunny as fast as you guys can. I will tell you everything, but first," the long nosed man swallowed past the lump in his throat and settled his face into a determined expression, "whatever happens we won't abandon this mission. Not when we've come so far!"

The Strawhats nodded, but the silence persisted unusually long until Usopp finally cleared his throat and turned to look into Luffy's expectant eyes.

"Robin told me and Chopper about it in the first few days, but we haven't told any of you because the chances of this actually happening were null."

"Actually, they were low. I've never said it wasn't possible to happen." Robin corrected, still managing a smile despite the grim situation they found themselves in. "Mind if I take over?"

Usopp nodded, but raised a halting hand, still looking at his captain. "Luffy, Shanks is coming."

The rubber man's jaw dropped comically, but he remained overall silent.

"What!" Sanji, Nami and Zoro yelled at the same time.

"It is to be expected." Everyone looked at Robin's sober expression. "We are in his territory, after all."

"Great!" The blond haired cook deadpanned, searching erratically for a cigarette.

"I've been reading logs from as long as ten years ago and his name appeared more than once, along with his crew." The black haired woman informed them, watching detachedly as the door to the safe closed and locked. "Ever since their first visit here, their objective was never one to fight. Rather, they always seemed to make a show of having a contest with the Marines stationed at the base here. Though they showed periodically, I could never find a pattern on the time intervals so I concluded that they don't have any particular business on this island, nor is it of any importance to the Red Haired Pirates."

"But they still found themselves coming here." The green haired man scowled from the group's rear, fighting a losing battle to reattach the paper to his hat.

"Unfortunately, yes. And now we have to deal with them accordingly." Robin said, making sure her face was covered enough by her hair.

"You mean, fight with them?" Franky intoned, a note of unwillingness in his gait. He moved to scratch his head, but ended up losing his hat and wavy wig.

"I surely hope not." Nami muttered, eyeing her shocked captain worriedly.

"This depends on our Commodore." The older woman smiled behind the curtain of hair.

Usopp grimaced, but a set of hands caging his shoulders stopped him from delving further into his muddy black thoughts of the future.

"Usopp," Luffy's head hung limply from his shoulders, "you have to get rid of them!" His exclamation shocked his friends, but the raven head could care less in that moment. "I promised Shanks I'd return his hat when I become Pirate King and I get myself a crew strong enough to beat his, but we still have a long way to go! I'm not prepared to face him and I don't want to either! I don't even have the hat. We have to make them leave..."

Luffy started pacing uncharacteristically, biting his lower lip as he searched for a way out of this impossible situation.

The sniper exhaled tiredly. "I know Luffy. I will try my best. Until then, make sure you always have your cap on your head. And please don't act like yourself." Usopp knew this was impossible, but one had to hope.

"Ah, and we have to tell everyone to not say anything about 'Lucy'." The long nosed man made air quotations with his fingers.

The group approached the exit only to find it overcrowded by practically everyone in the base. Usopp's eyebrow twitched as he neared the first rows in the back and started yelling for order while absently searching for his sunglasses.

 _Gah, I lost them!_

Thinking fast, he snatched the first pair he could get his hands on. "Thanks!"

"No one say anything about Lucy being here!" Nami shouted over the incessant murmurs of the marines. "Red Haired Shanks can very well go and tell Strawhat Luffy!" The orange haired woman settled for the ones nearest to her since she would fight a losing battle in trying to reign in the whole mob. "Commodore's orders! Tell everyone or I'll make sure you won't see the next sunrise!" The navigator barked, making the men around her gulp and nod fervently before starting to spread the news further.

Said Commodore was in the process of fixing his hat over his eyes and rehearsing his speech when the crowd seemed to finally acknowledge his presence in its midst. Like one being, all of his subordinates stepped aside and the sniper felt caught by a vortex-like feeling of being absorbed and thrown right into the sunny day outside. The waves crashing against the small cliffs were the first sound he heard and he knew they were telling him that someone was there – they were unsettled as well. Then his vision cleared the further up he looked and, as he drew himself up to his full height, he could finally see their guests – or invaders, whichever worked best.

The dragon figure headed ship was anchored near the shore, sails furled against the breeze flapping the Jolly Rogers strapped to the masts and its deck was swarming with pirates as they went about their duties. Some were already on the shore, obviously setting up camp if the tents and other assorted things were any hint – they even got a fire going! – or just relaxing.

And in the middle of them all, sitting on a boulder he had sometimes considered a good place to bang his head on when everything became too much, sat Red Haired Shanks in all his red haired glory. The image swiftly whirled to a stop and Usopp fought to keep his jaw compact. The guy was dressed in a pair of flower shorts, a loose white shirt and sandals. His only saving grace was the acceptably fashionable black cape on his shoulders that might have seemed dangerous, were it not combined with the other articles of clothing. He might have very well looked like a tourist if it weren't for his reputation, the skeleton head and bones on those flags, the bloody pirates on his ship and for the half finished bottle of rum in his hand. Usopp had an inkling feeling it was full ten minutes ago.

Swallowing down whatever pirate attitude he would unconsciously exude and praying to all gods of the sea that his act was good enough the sniper drew himself up again and entered character. He was now a Commodore from Marine Headquarters, sent there on the Fleet Admiral's orders because his predecessor, his _father_ – fake father, but whatever – had sadly died. The people behind him were not pirates for sure. They were his assistant, robot, secretary, pet, assassin squad – because he was _such_ a pretentious and eccentric man – and a random guy that was a new recruit. Now that he looked again, Luffy was pressed tightly to the wall, trying in vain to become one with the architecture and Usopp could say without a doubt that he envied his captain in that moment.

 _Lucky bastard_ , Usopp thought wistfully as he drew nearer towards the red haired pirate.

Many of his crew stopped whatever they were doing to glare or simply look curiously at him approach while Shanks only swiveled around in his seat and offered a polite smile that gave Usopp enough reassurance that the guy might not be here to kill them after all.

"I suppose I should welcome you all to our base, but I'm afraid I don't know the reason for the sudden visit." His voice surprisingly didn't waver, but he felt his knees shake slightly and he hated that. There was no way to turn back now, what the hell was he still shaking in fear for?

Shanks gave a loud chuckle and took another gulp of rum. "I see you are quite new here, huh? These guys didn't tell you much." The red head grinned and stood up. To his full height, he easily towered over Usopp. "I'm the Yonko that controls these territories. We are simply here to take a look around and relax for a while before setting sail again."

Ignoring the 'a while' part, the sniper couldn't help himself but launch an ironic argument. "Never heard of a Yonko controlling a Marine Base before."

Some of the Red Haired pirates chuckled and smirked while their captain only grimaced.

"To be honest, your predecessors weren't the best officers around. When we arrived here at first, the man in charge was actually terrorizing the locals so we stepped in. After that, there had been an unnamed pact between you and us."

"I understand." Usopp said dryly. It was sadly predictable and now everything made sense. The locals hadn't dared to step in while there was a possibility they could make some power hungry idiot mad and take revenge on them.

"I'm the captain, Shanks. These guys are my crewmates." He jammed a thumb behind him. "And you are?" The curious question has been expected for a while now, but it still scared Usopp however prepared he had been for it.

"I am Commodore Marinaro, but call me Marino. I've been placed here on Fleet Admiral's orders since my father's unfortunate death."

"Oh? You're Teriaky's kid?" Shanks asked, surprised. Then his eyes fell on his bandaged nose. "What happened to your nose?"

Usopp had never heard that name in his life. Granted, the documents Nami had given them had no names written in them, so whoever the red head was talking about could be anyone and Usopp would be none the wiser. That meant plan B.

 _Ignore it while you can._

"I fell down the stairs and they put it between these long sticks, you see. So now I have to wear them for a while until it heals."

Many flinched at the story, as ridiculous as it sounded even to his own ears.

"I still want to know what you plan on doing here." His eyes settled on the already lounging pirates pointedly, though Shanks probably couldn't see them because of his sunglasses. "I don't think having pirates on my doorstep will allow me to sleep as comfortably as I do now."

The men behind the Yonko snickered collectively and Usopp offered them a small smile and a weak wave in return. These guys weren't as bad as he thought they were.

As irony would have it, he was forced to swallow his earlier thoughts when Shanks' face suddenly contorted into a blood-curling smirk. At least, that's what it was for him because he knew the man wanted something or had a plan that involved him ending up mentally scarred by any means possible.

"I'm surprised your father didn't tell you, but we always used to play some games during our visits here."

A hell-sent shiver crawled up the sniper's spine and he was suddenly thankful for the glasses and the hat. They obstructed his fearful expression in that testing moment.

"What the hell are you talking about mate?" In spite of the overwhelming pressure, Usopp did not stop talking like people are sometimes prone to do. No, the sniper would burst out spewing stupid things at the first opportune time.

Shanks looked a little baffled at the form of address, but smiled nonetheless and said.

"I believe you know that your dear father had always considered himself to be the best sniper in the marines-"

"In the world even!" One guy with a funny bandana and long blond hair added from behind.

"-and I took advantage of his hospitality to make sure my crew could withstand his almighty power."

The story was told with so much sarcasm intended that Usopp had to bite his lower lip to stop from bursting out laughing. He could hear several bouts of laughter from behind him, though.

"And it sort of became our traditional game so..." The man trailed off abruptly and Usopp saw him stare somewhere to his right.

Turning his head, he could only spot Chopper and he double checked to make sure nothing was amiss from the image before looking back at Shanks inquiringly.

"What is _that_?" The man spoke without much compelling.

Usopp blinked. Was the guy messing with him?

"A reindeer."

The Zoan Fruit user made a sound close to a deadpan _duh._

"Why do you have a reindeer?" Shanks spoke slowly, almost afraid that said doctor would suddenly jump on him and try to kill him.

"He's my pet!" The long nosed man exclaimed, tired of the slow guy. And he was a Yonko... _seriously_? Now he knew why this was Luffy's idol.

The Red Haired pirates blinked as one.

"How can it even live on a summer isla-"

"Are you here to talk about my pet reindeer?!" Usopp asked, hands crossed over his chest.

A small silence then, "Right."

Half the base sighed in relief.

"So this is how the game works!" Shanks began again, his composure back. "You and one of my crewmates will compete in sniping. If you lose, we stay here however long we want and have parties every nigh right under your window."

Several laughed and even the corners of Usopp's lips twitched upwards.

"If you win, we'll be gone within the day."

 _This actually seems like a legit game._ "What's the catch?"

Because it couldn't just be a legit game.

"The catch depends on your luck." The red haired pirate grinned. "If you're that guy's son, you should be a good sniper." Though his words made many of Shanks' subordinates laugh, they were actually making a lot of sense in other contexts as well, but Usopp's stomach dropped either way. "What say you?"

Sometimes, the sniper considered himself to be possessed. Because he knew that no one in their right minds – especially him! – would ever answer this.

"Don't dump me with that man. I'm way better than him!"

Shanks looked surprised at his conviction.

"This guy is quite self-confident." A new voice joined their conversation. There were several catcalls and even jeers as the intruder stepped forward from behind his captain.

Usopp hoped his sharp intake of breath and the small step taken backwards would be attributed to something like knowing his bounty poster because he couldn't just stay still and act nonchalant when his _father_ – the _real_ one – was standing right in front of him! He looked much more different than the long nosed man remembered, with dreadlocks in his hair and a new cape with stars. And he looked even older, but his grin was unchanged and it made Usopp's heart ache.

"I think I'll be competing this time!" Yasopp declared with a grin, resting a hand on his captain's shoulder and his crewmates cheered.

"Seems like you're not in luck, Commodore."

Usopp heard Shanks say, but he couldn't do anything else besides stare at the older men stupidly, his mouth possibly agape.

"Commodore!" His stupefied phase was interrupted by Nami's sudden call and he turned around to see Robin standing behind the group with a Den Den Mushi in her hands.

"There is a call from the Headquarters." The blonde haired woman explained, gesturing to the small snail in the archaeologist's hands.

The sniper nodded numbly and walked towards the immovable black haired woman, whose expression was obscured by her hair while silently asking himself if it was true or not.

Of course it wasn't.

"Hello." Usopp greeted no one as he accepted the receiver.

" _Usopp, you gotta win this!_ " The sniper startled a little at Luffy voice coming from the other end so abruptly.

"Ah, now's not a good time..."

Several pirates stiffened and Shanks' eyes narrowed.

" _You can do it! This is a captain's order!_ "

Usopp's mouth pressed into a tight line and his voice quivered a fraction. "Not right now. It's impossible."

" _Nothing's impossible! Look at me, I managed to use a Den Den Mushi without blowing up the base... though Franky had helped me, but that's not what matters!_ " Luffy's hurried words brought a small smile on his face. " _You're the future Pirate King's sniper and a brave warrior of the seas! I'm sure you'll be able to do it. No pressure! Okay, bye!"_

The long nosed man blinked when the call ended abruptly, but he made sure to stay in front of the snail and say one last thing.

"Sure, that's no problem! I'm sorry for the earlier inconvenience, sir."

"Something the matter?" The red haired captain asked, eyebrow raised.

Usopp raised an eyebrow at him in turn, looking more composed than ever since this mess had begun.

"Yes, you don't have to worry about it. I'm not so heartless to divulge such secrets without gain." His grin caused a heavy silence to settle above them all.

"If I didn't know better, I'd say you are a pirate." A grey haired man commented, leaning on a stack of barrels nearby as he smoked a cigarette.

Despite the inevitable cold sweat that was suddenly assaulting him, Usopp stood his ground and forced himself to appear startled and offended.

"Ben." Shanks warned, glaring at his first mate who simply shrugged in return.

"Should I take this as a sign to reconsider my earlier declaration?" Usopp spoke slowly, knowing who he was dealing with. He had heard many things about Ben Beckman through their travels and it was enough to know that he had to be very careful.

"Definitely one." The older man snorted more to himself. "I think you've got your career wrong, kid."

"Stop!" Shanks ordered sharply before turning an apologetic smile in his direction. "Sorry about that. My friend there tends to overanalyze things."

"Oh boy, do I know." Usopp whispered, definitely not referring to Ben's tendencies.

"Let's just begin already-" Yasopp scowled, getting more bored by the moment, though a heavy set of footsteps cut him off.

Franky exited the base along with Luffy – who slammed himself on the wall again – and stopped behind the group, declaring. "Red Haired Shanks sighted. Engaging-"

Knowing this was his cue, Usopp lifted a hand in dismissal. "Leave them! They are not a danger," the sniper eyed Ben's smoking form for a moment, "for the moment."

"What is that?" Shanks repeated his earlier question with a pointed finger in the shipwright's direction and the Commodore sighed.

"An upgraded version of the Pacifista. Oh, but you haven't heard it from me." He brought a finger in front of his mouth to accentuate his point.

The Red Haired pirates grinned as one and Usopp knew he had done something to award him plus points in their books. Unfortunately, he knew this wasn't going to make it any easier. It was only going to go downhill from there on out.

* * *

"Are you sure this is going to be fine?" Brook whispered from the back of the group. On his sides, Zoro and Sanji shrugged helplessly, watching as the two snipers loaded their guns.

"Does Usopp even know how to fire a gun?" Nami asked, doubt and worry written in her eyes.

"Yeah, don't worry. If he can handle a canon, he can fire a gun." Was Franky's soft reply from her right.

"What do cannons and guns have in common?!" The navigator exclaimed silently.

Luffy watched in amusement as his friends huddled into a tight circle, conspicuously discussing their long nosed crewmate's rate of success. On his part, the captain knew that his comrade would be more than fine. Usopp could keep up with Yasopp and he might even be able to win if he was lucky. He briefly considered causing a commotion just to divert the older man's attention, but that would put everyone on high alert and many would get suspicious so he refrained in the end. As much as he was bored, he did not want to do anything that might give Shanks any indication that he was there. He wanted to keep his promise exactly how he had always imagined it, not like this!

So, even though he almost did something to attract attention to himself numerous times since this morning – though these were easily brushed off by the marines since they were shockingly commonplace by now – Luffy has been as careful as he could. And that made him stay back and let his friends to the front along with Shanks, Ben, Roo and a couple of others Luffy didn't remember very clearly, thankful that everyone seemed too occupied with this little game to mind his little accidents.

"Alright, let's begin!" Yasopp grinned at his frozen adversary.

Usopp barely managed to offer a small, wavering smile in return before returning to staring into the abyss in front of him. The pirates had told the truth since they knew what they were doing. After the fake Commodore had agreed to their terms, Shanks and his crew, along with everyone in the base –those traitors will pay in the future for not having told them anything about this! – guided them up the mountain path to a clearing they had just bypassed a few days ago on their trip to the village. From that place, the sniper could see the numerous houses coating the mountain's other side until they collided with the sandy patch that gave way into the ocean.

"You ready?" His father's curious eyes entered his field of vision and Usopp startled and jumped backwards a few meters, hoping against hope that the man hadn't seen behind his sunglasses.

"Y-Yeah. What are we sniping?"

The older man pointed to a shop's sign in the form of a flower somewhere at half the distance between the sea and the forest. Even from the considerable distance, Usopp could easily pinpoint its pink petals, green stem and two leaves. And he didn't like where this was going.

"We're shooting the stem. Right between the two leaves." Yasopp announced and gestured for him to go first. "After you, the son of the best sniper in the Marines!"

The Red Haired pirates laughed, but Usopp was past caring about the jeering. His hands tightened around his rifle in a white knuckled grip and he gulped back the sudden anxiousness assaulting him. As he stepped forward, he allowed Luffy's words to play inside his mind one more time as a way to convince himself that he had dealt with worse before and got out of it fine. A stupid game was nothing.

 _If I'd have been able to use my goggles, it would have been_ _ **way**_ _easier_ , he thought bitterly before shaking his head and stopping just a few steps shy of falling off the cliff. He couldn't think like that already, he will be able to hit the target just fine.

 _I can do it!_

And if not… well, a week or two with people partying under his window won't be so bad.

 _Who am I kidding?_

His throat felt too dry to produce any spit, but he swallowed more out of reflex and heaved the gun in position, aiming carefully for the intended target. Deicing to risk it, he let the sunglasses slip from his nose a little bit to allow his eyesight no obstacles. His heart beat wildly in his ears and his knees were buckling, but he pushed those things to the back of his mind and triple checked the target, the winds and, after a short calculus, estimated the approximate resistance of the air and recounted the possible errors that he might have overlooked as his index finger absently caressed the trigger.

 _It doesn't look like a bad day to shoot off random things._ His thought was so random, he will be shocked by it later, but in that moment he didn't have time to analyze such trivialities. Inhaling deeply, Usopp pushed the trigger, bracing himself for the recoil.

It was not as forceful as he remembered it to be. For a moment there was only darkness and the sniper noted that his legs were not trembling anymore and his heart had slowed down to a steady rhythm. Only when the cheers came did he realize he had closed his eyes.

The first thing he saw was Yasopp's impressed face.

"Not bad, Commodore." Shanks offered him a smile.

In his state of shock, Usopp turned his head automatically to look at his friends' excited faces.

"You did it!" Nami yelled, almost hugging him before remembering where she was. "Sir." She added casually and Usopp sweat-dropped.

"Congratulations, sir!" Robin's eye twinkled behind the curtain of her hair and Usopp smiled.

"Might have been luck, but it might have been skill too. We'll see!" The older sniper chuckled, took aim and fired.

"Right in the place the Commodore had hit!" The blonde man from earlier announced, a spyglass over his eye.

The Red Haired pirates cheered wildly and Usopp sighed.

 _Of course he did it._

"Good job in the first round!" Yasopp extended a hand towards him.

The nervousness from earlier returned full force as Usopp took his hand and shook it. If the older man noticed his sudden trembling he didn't mention it. Instead, he grinned again and said.

"We'll continue this tomorrow. For now, let's party!"

The Yonko's crew raised their hands in agreement and gave loud howls.

Usopp turned around on his heels and faced his friends as the pirates filtered out of the clearing.

"I need to practice with the gun." He said in all seriousness.

"The training room's all yours." Zoro said.

"If you need help tell me." Sanji offered, looking around for anyone else lagging behind before reaching for a cigarette.

"Same here, Usopp-bro!" Franky nodded.

"You did great, Usopp!" Chopper exclaimed as he nudged his friend with his muzzle.

The long nosed man smiled and patted the reindeer's head. "Thanks!"

"You're definitely able to win this!" Luffy's obnoxious grin and pat on the shoulder startled Usopp for a moment before the words registered.

Something eased inside the sniper's chest at that moment and he was finally able to give them a real upturn of the lips.

"Yeah."

* * *

The next day found Usopp once again side by side with his father in a sniping match. Today's target was one of the small, circular windows of the church located at the far left of the village, near the cliffs cutting the beach's reaches short.

Arms aching from the continuous bouts of training he had delved into yesterday after the game, the sniper lifted his weapon to eye level and aimed carefully. He didn't like the feeling of uncertainness still swimming in his stomach nor the uneven and foreign weight of the firearm in his hands. Even after the five hours of training he did yesterday – he had refused to go celebrate anything and instead dedicated himself to getting used to aiming with a gun instead of his precious slingshot – after which he had literally fallen into bed, he still had difficulties holding it. Usopp didn't want to say the shot yesterday was beginner's luck, but he had thought about it over and over again and he had unconsciously arrived at this conclusion not long into his 'meditation'. That was why the sniper had shot bullets like mad, enlisting Sanji and Franky to help him with directions and hints.

As he watched the bullet fly off into the distance, he was sure it would hit, but he also knew that he wasn't good enough yet. His father had reciprocated the shot without difficulty only a few seconds later after the blonde guy announced his success. It only made Usopp feel worse.

"Same time tomorrow then!" Yasopp lifted a hand, the smile yet again never leaving his face and his eyes alight with the challenge his opponent had proven himself to be.

Usopp nodded half-heartedly and directed his footsteps towards the training room, deciding that six hours would do for today.

* * *

With the echoes of shouts and ripples in the closed off atmosphere inside the training room still resounding in his ears and prickling his skin, Usopp hit the next two targets – the chimney of a house placed near the beach and a street lamp in a twisted alley that was barely visible from their spot – though his mind was never there to begin with.

His body was already screaming and his eyes were half closed most of the time now, save for the moments of heavy concentration when he would literally push his eyesight to its limits. And however much Nami and even Robin would scold him for it, he would not put on a donated pair of goggles that might give him an advantage – no matter how much the others said they didn't.

He supposed that extending the training time so that he was stuck now more than nine hours into that training room had some negative side-effects after all. Something that many started commenting on about the time when the game didn't seem to end after three days. Half the base was on his side, urging him on to win this, while the other half had the gall to accuse him of neglecting his duties – something that he had been doing from the beginning, but now it was out in the open.

It didn't matter to Usopp, though he knew that Luffy was becoming more and more restless with the sudden stall in events. Aside from the bets thrown around every day by pirates, marines and villagers alike, nothing worth of notice happened and it served to put them all on edge, though Usopp had other things on his mind at the moment.

"You should take a break." Nami's words seemed to come from very far away and he almost ignored them.

"No, I'm fine." His answer was no more convincing than his absurd lies.

"You look like a walking sack of bones!" Zoro's off-hand comment did not help in the least and neither did Brook's protests about stolen trademark jokes.

"Usopp-san," the musician began gently, "maybe you should take today off. I mean, you've been training like crazy in the past days-"

 _No, not yet._ He wasn't feeling that weapon yet and he knew that in order to use its full power, he would have to make compromises. He didn't have tons of time like he had had with his slingshot and it was only a matter of time before he mess it up and lost. "No, I'm not done yet."

"Are you even hearing yourself, Usopp?!" The orange haired navigator must have had a scowl on her face, he knew.

"When did he start taking this so seriously, anyway? He was trembling the first time." Sanji's remark was no more welcomed than the others.

"They are right, Usopp! You should take a little break." Now even Chopper was joining in the act of bullying him.

"Shut up!" The sniper turned around abruptly, almost losing his balance in the process. His blurry vision was the first sign that managed to lift the metaphorical fog from his eyes. Heaving a tired sight and hoping his friends had not been too offended by his shout, he turned around and started for his bedroom, mumbling. "Alright…"

He would just wake up early and train then.

While the Strawhats exchanged high fives over their success in making their friend go to bed early, Luffy watched with narrowed eyes after his long nosed friend walking with slumped shoulders through the hall. The raven head did not like how the sniper had transformed into a training maniac over this game, but he knew it had nothing to do with handling guns and everything to do with Yasopp. Usopp unconsciously, or consciously really, wanted to make a good impression even if his father didn't have any clue who he really was because of the disguise. The pirate captain felt it both like a blessing and a curse and he knew that he had been right in his decision to not reveal themselves. They weren't ready, neither Usopp nor any of the Strawhats. And Luffy was no exception.

* * *

Next day's target was a little more special. Instead of targeting something immobile and plain, Yasopp went to the next level and decided on a more exquisite type of target: shooting into the vase that one of the little cupids carved into the fountain was holding without damaging anything else from the sculpture. It didn't help Usopp in the least that water was pouring out of it, though he doubted the liquid would present a lasting impediment to the overall trajectory of the bullet.

He didn't need any invitation to step forward and aim, but he took longer before shooting since he wanted to make sure that the bullet wouldn't derail off course. The dull thud of the weapon against his shoulder and the following cheers allowed him to sigh in relief. And, to his eternal chagrin, but also admiration, Yasopp hit it as well, though this time even the man took a little while to prepare firing.

"Are you sure you don't wanna come today, Commodore?" The dreadlocked man asked as they walked towards the base side by side.

Usopp looked to be considering this for a moment before he shook his head. "Sorry, I have documents to sign again."

"Really?" The pirate eyed him with a raised eyebrow. "Yesterday you weren't in your office when I looked for you."

"You looked for me?" It was the younger's turn to raise his eyebrows, feeling a warm and fuzzy feeling along with overwhelming alarm at the notion.

"The guys had caught a pretty big fish and we thought you and your friends might want to eat too." Yasopp shrugged, unconcerned that he had pretty much walked through a Marine base to search for its commander and offer him food.

"I was probably off inspecting something or sleeping." Usopp quickly lied, making a mental note to check the safety of the route Nami and Franky used to transport the money towards the Sunny. Five days in and they were almost done, to Usopp's unending gratitude.

"Oh, come on! You're no fun…" The older pirate positively pouted as he threw his arms around the younger's shoulders.

Hoping that the sudden stiffness of his muscles was no really noticed, Usopp almost gave in, but the press of his gun into his back reminded him that he couldn't abandon his training regimen.

So he offered one last tight, regretful smile and politely declined yet again. "Sorry."

They will have time for parties in the future, when he will be strong enough to even beat his father.

* * *

 _NEXT DAY_

Today was a cloudy day and judging by the rather dark ones hanging above their heads, it might as well start pouring any minute now.

Usopp watched detachedly as people strolled in and out of the clearing like it was a museum and they were the animated exhibits. Some even had picnics going on despite the overcast weather, but the substantial crowds did not seem to care. All in all, it was clear now that this game had been the most exciting thing to happen on this island in a while.

He chanced a look at his father only to find him sitting on the grassy ground, face scrunched up in concentration as he loaded his gun calmly, only half listening to the one sided conversation Shanks was having with Ben next to him. It was obvious neither the sniper nor the first mate were in any mood for useless chats. Further back, Lucky Roo was busy dealing the dibs on today's match while the Red Haired pirates' monkey stood perched on a crewmate's shoulder, screeching obnoxiously loud and thus adding the cherry on top to the overwhelming ruckus everyone was making already.

On his other side, his friends were once again grouped together, Nami looking worst than all of them. It was obvious the navigator hadn't managed to get enough sleep, but she was still smiling despite of this. Of course, that was because she and Franky, along with Robin this time around, had managed to make one last huge effort and transported every last bit of the billion they've been stealing for the last weeks onto the Thousand Sunny, finally completing their mission. With this out of the way, it was easy to be said that the Strawhats were in pretty good moods. Now they only had to make a swift exit and the world may never know what had transpired on this remote island in the New World. Of course, that is if Usopp could actually manage to win this, or – in the best case for them and the worst for the sniper – to lose.

He spied his captain sitting at the base of a tree not very far away and it was obvious that the raven haired man was studying him intently from under the brim of his cap.

"You ready?" His father's question was starting to feel like a routine by now, but he nodded anyway and stepped forward.

Heaving his weapon up, he made to aim, but found his brain lacking the information needed.

"What's the target?" The long nosed man asked, lowering the gun and looking at Yasopp questioningly.

The older pirate grinned and pointed an index finger in his direction dramatically.

"Today's target," he declared, voice booming over the crowds, "is going to truly test our worth as snipers!"

Usopp raised an eyebrow along with many others, but otherwise remained silent.

"You see that?" Yasopp pointed to a distant house on which a reasonably sized turbine vent could be seen. It was rusted and it had quite a few paddles missing, but it was still functional and rotating. "We are shooting our bullets into that." Seeing as the Commodore's face was blank in confusion, he detailed. "They have to enter through it. The one who passes right through cleanly on the other side wins the game."

 _What the hell kind of target is that even?_ , Usopp thought derisively, becoming positively alarmed by the sight. An ominous creaking started in his head, giving him the shivers to match the image of the rusted vent and its dooming factor to his fate.

Heaving a resigned sigh, he made to step forward again only to be halted by his father's hand.

"How about I demonstrate it first?"

Having nothing to lose – _yet_ , the sniper thought cynically – he stepped back and gestured for the older man to take his place.

Yasopp heaved up his gun and pulled the trigger after a solid five minutes of concentration.

"Nice. You made it, Yasopp!" The blonde haired announcer fist bumped the dreadlocked pirate over the cheers of the crowd.

Usopp looked at his friends' sympathetic faces, his captain's obscured one and then back at his father's grin before retreating into his own mind and starting to formulate plans and possible trajectories for the bullet to take. Heaving his gun up again, Usopp recounted and played inside his mind the most realistic versions of them.

He didn't feel when the rain started to fall, nor the steady fall of raindrops on his hat or the restless shifting of the crowds, though no one dared to speak or even breathe in that heavy silence. But even though the rain was only a recent event, Usopp still counted it into his equations, knowing that he couldn't simply ignore it. Overlooking things caused one to make mistakes and that was the last thing he wanted right now. He wanted to think that he wasn't an amateur.

Finally, after a solid ten minutes standing in the pouring rain, Usopp let his finger squeeze the trigger and he watched the bullet fly past all the roofs and right into its target. Just before it entered, the sniper closed his eyes, knowing what was to come.

The bullet entered the vent, but it never came out. The continued shush around him rang in his ears loud enough to become bothersome, but he was rooted to the spot, waiting for blondie to announce his loss. He didn't know what it took the guy so long. It was pretty obvious that if he didn't see it in the first few seconds, he would never do.

"It didn't get out." Finally, the words were out, but the continued silence was heavier than anything he had ever felt.

" _Today's target is going to truly test our worth as snipers."_

 _Even after two years of training, it's still so much difference between me and him, huh?_

Usopp knew that he wasn't strong enough. He felt it ever since that first shot he had made in the metaphorical dark and though he hadn't dared believe that he might be able to win this – only if his father would have let him, though – the long nosed man had hoped that he might have, at least, been able to keep up with the older man. And for a deceptively long and surprising while, he did. And now Usopp knew why everything happened the way it did today. Because he had let himself think that he was such a genius for managing that impossible shot on Dressrosa and that his handle on the gun had gotten amazingly better than on the first day in such a short amount of time. Usopp had thought that he might be able to amaze his father and friends and to prove that he wasn't only the liar of the crew. That he was their sniper and he could be useful.

 _Nicely coated words for a loser_ , a remote corner of his mind provided sneeringly and Usopp felt the need to throw up. In a real _pirate_ game, duel, whatever, at least one of his crewmates would have died because of his lack of skill. They were just lucky that the Red Haired pirates were not the usual tyrants and he was glad for this, at least.

 _Now what?_

"Well, seems like our party is in order, Commodore." Shanks grinned cheekily and the sniper paused.

 _Right._

Not having anything else to say to this, he shrugged in acceptance and turned around, intent on getting the hell away from there and find some remote corner or secret cellar where he could hide himself in until the pain in his chest and the burning stares of everyone around him had disappeared.

"Commodore!" His father's shout stopped before he could proceed. "You gotta join us today!"

Usopp's mouth went taut. He really didn't want to have to act happy and joke right now. No matter how good he was able to lie, at times like these even he couldn't just wipe away the overwhelming mountain of emotions threatening to engulf him and enjoy himself to a party hosted in honor of his loss.

"No thank you. I have things I need to take care of."

"Oh, c'mon! You're gonna die early with that serious attitude!" A red haired guy shouted as he rolled his eyes. Many of the surrounding pirates and even some citizens released similar shouts in agreement.

"Keep it down, boys!" Shanks yelled over the general ruckus. His eyes were kind and, Usopp realized with shock, _understanding_. "If the Commodore doesn't want to join us now, maybe he will change his mind after a while when he sees our amazing party. So let's make sure we're having fun!"

The Red Haired pirates cheered.

"Sir!" A man Usopp knew only by rank to be a Lieutenant shouted, running towards him as fast as he could. The liar was alarmed by the panic-stricken face and jerky movements that signaled shock.

"What is it? What happened?" The sniper truly hoped nothing too big. He could deal with the base blowing up – though he would have heard that happening – but not with another sudden visit.

"Sir, Marine warships appeared on our radar. They have communicated that they are Inspection corps sent from Headquarters!"

Of course his luck would only continue to bite him in the ass. Honestly, couldn't he ever catch a break from all this bullshit? Maybe it was because the number of lies he had told ever since coming here corresponded with the gravity of the situation. And if the Red Haired pirates' visit hadn't been sign enough, now Usopp had to deal with _inspectors_. In that moment the fake Commodore considered playing dead or abandoning his talent of lying. Something was clearly wrong with the world.

Sighing in defeat, he nodded his head numbly and made to leave again, inwardly preparing the next course of lies he would have to feed the visitors.

"Commodore, you have to help us!" Shanks was suddenly in front of him and slammed his hands on Usopp's shoulders hard enough to elicit a wince from the fake marine. The continuous shaking was not helping matters either. "The wind's not in our favor and we won't be fast enough to set sail before these guys arrive. Can you hide us?"

Usopp abstained from groaning out loud and looked up into the man's fierce gaze. It was pretty obvious that, should he refuse it, the pirate captain would resort to killing them all and taking their places. The sniper snorted at this particular bit of the story before he realized he had yet to give an answer. A tense silence was dominating the small clearing, every pair of eyes trained on the two men.

He spied Luffy's concerned gaze boring into his head and the sniper knew that they had to do what was right this time, things like promises forgone for the moment.

"Sure." The Commodore shrugged again casually and sidestepped a frozen red head to get back on track. "Make sure everything is ready and nothing too obvious is left hanging around…"

"Eh? Just like that?" Yasopp scratched his head in obvious confusion along with the rest of the pirates.

"Yes and you should hurry up and dock your ship before the Marines see it!" Usopp yelled over his shoulder, successfully snapping a couple of people from their stupors.

There was swarming again as the pirates ran towards the base along with the officers to get ready.

"You did what was right, Usopp." Luffy whispered when he walked past him.

"What the hell kind of irony is this?" Zoro grunted as he walked behind him and Usopp could clearly picture the frown marring his face.

"I tend to believe it's more of a curse." The sniper lifted one shoulder in defeat as he watched the base grow amongst the trees of the forest. He was not sure how much more of this he could take, but if a tenth of that billion wasn't going to him then Nami had another thing coming for her.

* * *

 **A/N: Here I am with chapter two :D**

 **Things are picking up really quickly for the poor strawhats... I definitely enjoyed writing this part! xD**

 **Reviews and Feedback are loved! Until tomorrow~**


	3. Chapter 3

"Commodore!" The strangely dressed man declared jovially as he opened his arms wide, no doubt intent on squeezing the hell out of Usopp.

On his part, the long nosed man only took half a step back and nodded. This motion made the grey haired man in front of him raise an eyebrow, but he brushed it off immediately.

"Where is Commodore Teriaky?" It seemed he finally realized that something was amiss.

"I am his son, Commodore Marinaro." Usopp said, smiling politely. "I have been sent in place of my father, who had suffered from a sudden death at sea." His posture was straight and his hands were tightly held together at the small of his back just like the protocol dictated. Yes, he had been _that_ bored.

"I see. I am sorry for your loss." The older man drawled, fixing the gum pink hat atop his head. It had the form of a bubble, of all things. "It is true that I have been sent on an inspection by the Fleet Admiral, though no specific instructions were given."

Usopp's eyes widened behind his glasses. The luck of him.

"My name is Rear Admiral Bubble of Marine Headquarters."

 _Oh, the irony._ Usopp partly wondered if these people dressed like that on purpose. _Maybe it's a custom._

* * *

"He's a pirate, all right." Ben repeated for the nth time that evening, watching detachedly as the other officers ate in silence. There was tension in the air, but he doubted much was because they were there. "The overall atmosphere is totally different than the last time we've been here."

"Just because he's handling things differently doesn't mean he's a pirate, Ben." Shanks rolled his eyes at his insistent first mate. Honestly, the man had good instincts usually, but this joke he kept insisting on was getting ridiculous. Especially by how true it was.

Shanks thought back and sighed again in relief now that everything was hidden. The Marines from HQ had docked earlier that morning, just after the pirates finished hiding the Red Force in one of the empty docks. The avoided disaster didn't let them relax, though.

"Stop that! He's a marine and you're lucky he's a good guy. Else he could have easily turned us in." Yasopp said through munches.

"Yes, it would have been very effective." Roo snorted and took another bite of meat. "Face it, even if the guy refused it, we could have easily demolished those idiots and be on our way. At least there's no tiger now."

"As much as Roo is right, I'm quite happy about the situation at the moment." Shanks quipped from his seat. The man was a freaky sight with his hair shoved into his cap and a bandage over his eye to hide the scars. Not to mention that their uniforms have been quite the running gag between their crewmates ever since two hours ago when they had first tried them on. But even though they would have passed for normal recruits, Shanks had still ordered them to stay clear of the inspectors. They had played a game of cat and mouse before finally deeming the canteen safe enough to camp in, seeing as the man had already been there before.

 _Figured that fatass would first head here._

"I just hope we won't have to stay here much." Rockstar added his bit into the conversation.

"I wouldn't have minded to become a marine if all of them were like this guy." Ben said nonchalantly, earning a smack over his head from his captain.

* * *

"Commodore, I must ask you a very serious question." Bubble declared dramatically and Usopp shuddered again. For the last two hours, the man had dragged him here and there before finally settling on the safe and after that, his office. All the way asking stupid questions that were more or less answered with masterful lies and deception. This guy could lose his focus easily, Usopp had noted not long into their meeting.

The safe had been a hard operation – given the sudden disappearance of a _billion_ Berri – but the sniper had put his dissimulation skills to good use and managed to distract the guy long enough to make him forget about inspecting _'if the money were there'_. Robin and Zoro had also dealt with the other losers that tried to do the same thing, while the rest of the Strawhats save Chopper and the assassin trio, have been hot on the marines' heels ever since walking through the front door.

"Yes?" He urged, seeing there was no point in denying the man yet another bothersome inquiry.

"On my visit to the canteen,"

 _The only one I wasn't present for_ , Usopp thought bitterly. He had been too preoccupied with disguising some pirates,

"I have been told that there is a certain man here and I couldn't believe my ears when they told me!" Bubble stopped and turned to face him abruptly, his hat falling over his bulbous eyes rather comically. "Is it true?"

"Uhm-"

"Is Strawhat Luffy's _twin brother_ here?!"

 _Goddamn them._

"Yes." Usopp's chest puffed out proudly. "This was a secret entrusted to me by the Fleet Admiral. And I believe that your inspection here was for this cause only, though you weren't given clear instructions because this is a matter of utmost importance!" The liar finished and he smirked when he saw the man in tears.

"I-I-I see!" The ridiculous guy stuttered incoherently, apparently too shocked to speak clearly.

Usopp would have shaken his head at the sight of those overly shining eyes and he knew that nothing he would say about secrecy could stop the guy from believing that he had won the lottery.

"M-May I meet him, Commodore?" Even though the man was still looking shaken, his gaze took on a steely edge that signaled to the other man trouble, should he refuse.

Heaving a tired breath, Usopp nodded and gestured for Bubble-gum to follow him. The sniper wasn't sure where his captain was, but he had a pretty good idea.

The weather had cleared up nicely and the sun was back in the sky, soaking up the island in a warm glow. Even with the rainfall yesterday, dust was already lifting from the ground as they walked through the lines of training recruits. They had returned to simply stretching, though Usopp had clearly seen many shudder at the promise of double 'Hell' training they would do after this was over.

The subject of their latest conversation had just finished stretching and was now plopped on the ground, biting into a piece of meat while his other hand was in a bowl of fried potatoes.

"Lucy!" Usopp called, meaning to warn Luffy of his companion.

Luffy's head snapped up and he regarded them with curious eyes as he swallowed the last bit of food in his mouth.

"Yes?" The rubber man jumped up, meal forgotten, but paused for a moment. "Sir."

"Don't say it after so long!" Usopp whispered, rolling his eyes at the sheepish look.

Fortunately, bubble man was too awestruck by the sight of the raven haired teen to notice anything else around him.

"Rear Admiral Bubble, this is Lucy, Strawhat Luffy's twin brother." Usopp formally introduced, ignoring the look Luffy gave him. It was obvious this game was getting old for him.

 _You're not the only one._

"An honor to meet the one called Lucy-sama by many." The marine drawled, eyes boring into Luffy's blank ones. "I must say, it is quite befitting."

"Thanks." Luffy replied, not sure what he should say.

"May I do the impoliteness of asking you to take off your cap? I want to make sure you really are who your superior claims."

 _Looks like this guy is not such an idiot after all_ , Usopp thought. It seemed that marines had to possess some sort of intelligence to advance in rank after all.

Luffy looked at his friend doubtfully, but conformed at Usopp's reassuring nod and took off the standard marine cap to reveal his pinned raven hair and rather normal features. Whatever Bubble was searching for wasn't there as he studied him for a moment more before finally bobbing his head in acceptance, the look of a fanboy already returning to his eyes.

* * *

"Then I will make sure to report everything is well with Lucy-sama." Bubble-gum spoke as he stepped back on board of his ship.

Usopp nodded, shifting impatiently and hoping that the guy would just leave already. He was bored with babysitting the guy and he had only been one day there.

"The other Inspection corps will be arriving in two hours at most. They will stay longer, I'm afraid."

The sniper abstained from hitting his head on the hull of the vessel in front of him. Just what he needed when their only other business here was finding a way to get out. At least, he was busy enough to not be thinking about lost matches and sniping skills.

"Have a safe ride, sir!" The long nosed man remembered the protocol just before the ship departed. He could care less if the guy would drown or not, but something like not abiding by the rules might make him mad or something and that was the last thing Usopp wanted right now.

"Thank you, but it's barely a three days' journey." Bubble man drawled as he turned away from the railing.

* * *

"Three days, three days… again and again, huh?" Usopp muttered as he walked through the halls. The silence was already ominous enough, he did not need random pirates running at him with weapons when he only wanted to use the toilet. "These people are getting restless." But then, so were they. Or he, at least. Now that he thought about it, he hadn't seen his friends since this morning.

Running a hand over his securely tied locks, the sniper blew one last breath before throwing the doors to the canteen – damn, he missed the galley already – open and took in the sea of heads turned his way. It took a while for him to spot the upper echelons of the Red Haired pirates – he silently patted himself on the back for a job well done in hiding them – and made his way towards their table, inwardly preparing to give them the not-so-good news.

"How did it go?" Shanks was the first one to break the silence that hung over the room.

"It was fine, he left ten minutes ago." At his declaration, the pirates cheered while the officers sighed in relief. "But two more are coming."

Immediately, all sounds ceased.

"When are they coming? Do we have time to set sail?" The disguised red head asked seriously, though Usopp felt his inquiries appropriate enough for his crew's situation too.

"No," he shook his head, "he said two hours at most, but I don't think you should take any chances."

The Yonko nodded while Yasopp and Roo shared a collective groan. Ben only lit himself a cigarette.

"How much do you think we'll have to stay here?" The first mate asked preemptively.

The sniper grimaced. "I think you should brace yourself for however much."

His reply was obviously not helpful, but Usopp couldn't be bothered to offer more assurances at the moment since he needed some of his own right now.

* * *

 _MARINE HQ_

Rear Admiral Bubble walked through the halls of the Marine Headquarters with an unusual spring in his steps and head held high above the other ranked officers populating the halls of the building.

Many raised an eyebrow at the display, obviously surprised at the appearance of the laughing stock of the Marines looking so proud and self-assured, unlike his usual cowering, unnoticeable form. His only saving grace was that ridiculous hat that had most new recruits rolling on the floor after learning his name. Of course, that was done behind closed doors, as no one would risk the wrath of a Rear Admiral, no matter how stupid the man looked and was.

Bubble decidedly ignored everyone who so much as glanced his way – they would see who the idiot is when he'd come out with the news of the weapon that would certainly rid the world of pirates such as Strawhat Luffy in the most painful way possible, _through family_ , and instead focused on his destination.

The Fleet Admiral's office.

* * *

Garp hummed joyously through the auditory massacre that was Sakazuki and his blubbering over something or the other. The older man eyed the sweets resting on the table thoughtfully before deciding that he had ignored his superior long enough to be able to fully enjoy his favorite rice crackers. So he reached for one and munched on it happily before taking a gulp of his steaming tea.

He noticed Sengoku applying the same method, only with so much more gusto than him and he grunted. Ever since the man had retired, he had unlocked a hidden reservoir of energy and happiness that had Garp and Tsuru surprised and the Marine organization shocked to the core. Looking at him now, it was obvious the man was too relaxed for his own good. Silently, Garp decided he had to up his game if he wanted to not fall behind Sengoku.

"You're not listening to me, aren't you?" Sakazuki glowered from his spot behind his desk.

"Oh my, he actually noticed…" Garp whispered with a grin and Sengoku chortled.

"Are you quite done, dear?" Tsuru asked as she, too, sipped her tea calmly. "You should have expected this. It's these two idiots you were talking to."

Both men threw her small glares before bursting out laughing.

"I should kick all of your asses out of the organization!" The lava user roared ferociously.

Being the only one seated with his back facing the ex-Admiral, Sengoku mimicked him and his probable expression in an amusing way, making Garp laugh again and Tsuru to snort and shake her head.

"But then everything would crumble down right at your feet." The Hero of the Marines commented, picking his nose quite anti-climatically. "Besides, you love us too much to get rid of us!" Garp felt compelled to add as he flashed a Monkey-family grin to his superior and cooed. "You can call me 'grandpa' if you want."

"Garp…" By the ominous ending his name took, the veteran had a general idea of what killing fest must be happening in Sakazuki's imagination.

"Come on, it wasn't so bad! We've only destroyed, what, three ships? That's not something we should be scolded for." Sengoku said, munching on a cracker. "You kids have done a lot more and I've never called you on it until a base was destroyed."

The Fleet Admiral's eye spasmed.

"A word of advice, Sakazuki." Tsuru spoke, distracting the man long enough from burning holes into the new Inspector General. "You shouldn't start getting alarmed until the count is up to ten. You have free reign from me to scold them when that number is reached."

"Your input is unnecessary! You're half the reason for this situation!"

The two men chuckled merrily while their female companion shot them a good old glare.

The Fleet Admiral opened his mouth to reprimand the fools – _seriously_ , he was losing his time by now – but a knock on the doors to his office announced him of unwanted and probably tiresome visitors. Nevertheless, he sighed and welcomed them in, choosing to ignore the squad of old fools for the moment.

The doors swung open to a quite eccentric sight. Sakazuki had seen his fair share of absurdly clothed idiots, but that did not mean he was prepared for every new spectacle.

He spotted Garp and Sengoku half on the floor and he shook his head in resignation.

"Fleet Admiral, sir!" Rear Admiral Bubble walked into the room fully and stopped in front of his desk, never once acknowledging the trio behind him.

On their part, two of the old fools started gesticulating wildly behind the guy and throwing rude gestures while Tsuru only smirked loosely and made herself more comfortable on the couch. Rolling his eyes at the display, he turned his full attention on the slightly nervous man.

"Yes?"

Bubble cleared his throat. "I have come to report the results of my inspection, sir."

Ah, he remembered now, though he was surprised to see it in Bubble's hands when he had specifically given it to Rear Admiral Yamamoto. He will have to have a talk with him some other day…

"You should have written a report about it, Rear Admiral." It was such an obvious thing to do, since all of them were required to do so. Why was this guy any different again?

"The nature of the mission seemed quite important, sir." The man said as he adjusted his pink hat.

Raising an eyebrow, Sakazuki mentally recounted what exactly this mission was. "You have been in inspection at G-20, if I'm not mistaken?"

"Yes." Bubble nodded.

"And why is this any different than any other base?" The lava user bit, already starting to get tired of the mellow guy.

To his surprise, the man only cocked an eyebrow in confusion. "I have reason to believe it is different because of the person residing within it, sir."

Silence descended above the room. Even Garp and Sengoku had gone still, Sakazuki noted duly.

"The one you had wanted to be informed about…?" The man tried again, seeing that his superior was not reacting and was actually only staring with an expression devoid of any emotions back at him.

"Did I specify something in my orders about this person?" Sakazuki's eyes narrowed as he registered the imminent hypothetical warning sirens blowing at the back of his mind.

"No, sir. But I have thought that it was because he was such an important person to the Marine organization."

" _Who the hell is he talking about?_ " Garp's whisper carried across the room easily and Bubble turned around with wide eyes and mouth slack.

"V-Vice Admiral Garp, sir! And Sengoku-san and Tsuru-san! Good day to you!"

The trio was more or less catatonic in the face of the late greetings.

"Why, I was actually talking about your grandson, Vice Admiral! The other one." The subordinate added at the sudden drop in the room's temperature.

"My… other one?" Garp tried, extremely confused.

"Lucy-sama."

"Lu-"

"You had another grandson and you didn't tell me!" Sengoku gasped loudly, pointing at his long time friend accusingly.

Tsuru cleared her throat, clearly a signal for her comrade to start spewing everything.

"No one knew, actually. He has been in Mariejois until a couple of months ago." Bubble added proudly.

"And now he's in G-20 _because_?" Sakazuki decided to play the man's game for the moment. It made him infinitely amused to see that old bastard gape like an idiot.

Bubble turned around to face his superior before answering. "On your orders, as far as I have understood."

"I didn't know that Dragon had another kid." Tsuru said to a frozen Garp. She crossed her arms over her chest. "Could it be before or after Luffy?"

"Hmm, older or younger? Maybe it's a girl and no one knows?" Sengoku considered, helping himself to another rice cracker from the table behind him.

"Strawhat Luffy's twin brother, actually." At Bubble's words, Sengoku and Tsuru went into twin fits of chocking, one on spit while the other on his precious cracker.

Sakazuki's eyebrows had already disappeared under the brim of his cap and Garp seemed to have finally managed to break through the ice cube he had been caged in.

"Luffy doesn't have any twin brother, you idiot! I'd know if that was the case! And I'm pretty damn sure Dragon wouldn't leave his kid at the gates of Mariejois!" The old man yelled, irritated. "But if he would, then it would be for infiltration purposes." He added, suddenly considering the possibility.

The Fleet Admiral made a mental note to make sure no stray babies were picked up from the threshold of the Holy Capital.

"But, sirs, it was true! He looked like Strawhat Luffy!" Bubble tried one last time, seeing as his few precious moments of glory were fading away right in front of his eyes.

The upper echelons in the room stopped and tensed at the information.

"Then we'll make sure to pay him a visit as well." Sakazuki growled, already halfway towards the door.

"It's your damn family again, Garp!" Sengoku declared, chuckling at the sentence that had pretty much become his catchphrase over the years. His friend shared in his laughter and even Tsuru looked amused.

"You should give Dragon a call and tell him to come and pick up his lost kid." The old woman mused, walking beside her companions.

Garp grinned obnoxiously wide.

"Good idea, Tsuru! That kid of mine is pretty irresponsible."

* * *

Monkey D. Dragon, commander of the Revolutionary Army, had been having a normal day until that fateful moment. Nothing too big or destructive had entered his problem radars for the day, his subordinates hadn't screwed up any report and the pile had even been mercifully small. Also, Sabo and Koala had returned with yet another triumph that was currently celebrated in the mess hall. Where he was as well, taking part in it – only partly, though. After a few glasses of beer, the raven haired man had almost declared this uneventful day to be a good one.

That is, until one of the lower ranked men on guard duty had entered the room carrying a loud snail. The little creature was calling fervently and Dragon decided to answer it, thinking that it must have been one of his field agents with last minute information. How wrong he was and how uninspired that line of thought had been.

" _Dragon, my son, you have truly disappointed me today!"_ A voice that could only belong to his father spoke from the other end and the man raised an eyebrow.

"That's a first. I thought I have done this numerous times already." Sometimes he had even made sure to.

A tired sigh was his only answer.

"Have you found today something of utmost importance in that category?" The tattooed man tried again, seeing as his father wouldn't elaborate on the subject without being prodded to. This was one of the reasons the old man was so irritating to begin with.

He also absently noted that most of the noise in the hall had already died down and many were listening intently.

Sabo approached his table, face a mask of worry.

" _Yes, actually. When did you decide to tell me anyway? On my deathbed?_ " Garp asked accusingly.

"Tell you what?" Dragon did not quite like where this was going, but he was extremely confused by now. Sure, he had kept plenty of secrets – _especially_ from his loudmouth of a father – but none of them seemed truly important since most were related to the revolutionaries. There might have been a couple of things that would fall in that category, but Dragon doubted they were so life-changing as to necessitate such a random timed call from the man in the middle of what was supposed to be a good day in his agenda.

There was shuffling on the other end before his father spoke again, tone most delighted. Dragon would have been concerned by it alone, had it been not for the words following it.

" _Why, about your other son, of course!_ "

Many chocked on various liquids or even air. Sabo's jaw hung open and the man himself was swaying dangerously on his feet while the rest of the upper echelons gathered around his table threw him withering glares, accusing him of yet another thing he had kept hidden from them.

 _Did I really?_

"Other… son?" The most wanted man in the world spat, hands clenching into fists on the table. What did this senile idiot want from him now? He would have surely known about having _another son_ , for crying out loud! Was this some kind of weird and insubstantial joke labeled Garp and his squad of idiots?

Unfortunately, his comrades took his sudden stiff posture as a sign that he had indeed been hiding something from them.

"Is it true, Dragon-san?" Koala asked curiously.

"What! Of course-"

" _I never knew Luffy had a twin brother!_ " Garp shouted over the receiver. Sabo wheezed, face a mask of horror and shock. " _Imagine my surprise when I heard he's been in Mariejois for the last nineteen years! And now he's a marine!_ "

"Stop spewing shit, you stupid old man!" Dragon snapped, already at his patience's end. It did not help that most of his subordinates looked halfway to fainting and his second in command's face was getting greener and greener. The joke had gone too far. "I don't have any other son and you damn well know that! Is retirement so boring for you that you start doing prank calls now?"

Garp paused for a moment to laugh before replying.

" _Oh man, I'm dying to know what faces you all had!_ "

The head of the revolutionaries growled, ignoring the ruckus erupting around him.

" _But I'm not joking, Dragon. There are some rumors about a 'Lucy-sama' around G-20 so I'm going to see what's up with that!_ "

A snort from Sabo distracted Dragon from firing a biting remark. The man looked to the young blond expectantly. As did the rest of the army.

"Lucy was Luffy's alias when he had fought in Dressrosa's colosseum."

Garp chortled and two others joined him. Dragon heaved an exasperated breath and pinched the bridge of his nose, desperately looking for a way to acquire eternal patience.

"Then I hope this is cleared up."

Garp huffed. " _You killjoy! I can't even make fun of you anymore without being the bullying target of the revolutionaries for months after_."

Dragon smirked. "Let's face it, old man. You ask for it. I only pay in double the amount."

The snail glared one last time and stuck out its tongue at him before Garp hung up.

The commander was suddenly alerted by many laughs exploding all around the hall.

"Dragon-san, I hope there are no more secrets between us, right?" One soul, drunker than others, sing-songed. He was quickly accompanied in his efforts by a couple of his comrades.

Dragon tapped his chin, as if considering it before he stood up from the table and offered his subordinates a sly smile.

"We'll see about that, boys."

* * *

The next couple of days were one of the most stressful and irritating Usopp had ever lived through. The inspectors' unending questions and requirements of him combined with the Red Haired pirates in all their undercover glory left him all but deprived of sleep and sanity. His friends were more or less in the same states like him, with the exception of Luffy and probably Chopper, both of whom had been spared the torment because of their status as new, revered recruit and respectively, pet.

On day five though, like a sent mercy from the gods themselves, the inspectors took their leave and Usopp fell into a disorientated state of confusion for a while. This is how Nami and the rest of the Strawhats found him – sitting behind his office desk and simply staring into space. Had they not known that their sniper was probably struggling to catch up with the latest turn of events, they would have thought he had lost his mind.

"Usopp, you alright?" Luffy asked, approaching carefully and poking his cheek.

The long nosed man jolted from his state of stupor to give his captain an unreadable look.

"… Is it over yet?" He asked after decidedly too long.

Luffy's mouth was taut, but his expression was calm and relaxed.

"Yes. We're going home and away from here." The pirate captain declared, straightening his back and looking at the rest of his crewmates. "Tomorrow."

The simple word spurred positive reactions from his friends and the raven head smiled when he saw them looking happier than they had been for over a week.

"What about the Red Haired pirates?" Franky asked, crossing his arms.

"We'll tell them to leave tomorrow too, but earlier, I guess." Luffy said, rubbing his chin.

"I get it, you're not one to plan. I'm going to figure it out, don't worry." Nami sighed, ruffling her already disheveled locks.

"We should announce them today, though so they will have time to prepare." Robin said, smiling at Nami's nod. "Come, I will help you."

"Usopp-san, do you feel any better?" Brook asked tentatively.

The sniper blinked a few more times before sighing and letting his head fall on the sturdy desk with a resolute bang.

"I think I caught I-cannot-be-a-marine-ever-disease."

His friends chuckled at the trademark reaction, knowing their friend was not lost after all.

* * *

"Eh? Tomorrow?" Shanks blinked up at the blonde haired woman and her dark haired companion.

Truth to be said, he had gotten pretty accustomed to the life of a marine officer and the new adventures it brought with it. If he hadn't been such a well known pirate, he might have joined the Marines just for the hell of it, wreaking havoc and spreading disarray until he was forced to leave or got bored and left himself. Though some of his crewmates had contributed with creative ideas on infiltration and so on, Benny hadn't been quite up for the ride.

Pouting at the clear end of his adventure, he nodded to the two and resumed his game of cards with the random officer he had met in the canteen.

"You know, I've been wondering about that weird black haired woman…" Yasopp whispered conspiratorially, watching the two exit the room.

Shanks snorted. "I hope you're not digging for her, Yasopp."

The sniper's palm found his face with a resounding slap. "Why are you so set on me and women? Every time I do so much as talk about one, you're starting to be like this!"

"We are pirates, mate." The red haired man shrugged, sneaking a passing glance at his adversary. Thankfully, the guy was too preoccupied with his cards.

Yasopp scowled. "Stop that shit, I have a wife. _Anyway_ , she is just too suspicious with all that hair over her face! Ever since coming here, I felt like I knew these kids from somewhere… like I've already seen them before or something."

"You're not the only one." His captain said, throwing two spades over the pile of cards on the table. "Benny, Roo, me and even some of the others have been having this feeling. And I'm sure it's not from this base."

Yasopp nodded. "Should we ask _Commodore_ Marino tomorrow, then?"

Shanks let a grin melt his earlier frown when he presented his quartet of aces to his defeated adversary. "Sure."

* * *

"You look like shit."

Usopp grimaced at Shanks' words. Even if they were spoken with concern, they still hurt. A lot.

"Thanks."

The red haired pirate's smile was small, but warm. "I thank you for your hospitality. You've saved me many headaches."

The long nosed man nodded and tried to smile back, but it only ended up in failure so he contended to keep his face straight.

"Commodore!" Yasopp greeted, throwing an arm over the fake marine's shoulders. "I hope your nose heals quickly. Maybe I'll come back some other day to redo our game!"

"We don't have anything to redo." Usopp said neutrally, though he knew his choice of words must have at least seemed bitter. "You won fair and square."

His father grinned. "True, but I doubt you'll just lay down your gun and never shoot again, right?"

That… was partially true to some extent, though it was going only so far as to the shooting part. Usopp didn't plan on firing any gun for a while, content in knowing that he would be reunited with his precious slingshot soon. Then he could get some serious training done. He wondered if his plantation of Pop Greens was alright.

"… Right."

"Cap', we're ready to get her out." Rockstar waved his arm from the shore.

At Shanks' nod, the large metallic door to the private docks slid open slowly to reveal the Red Force in all its glory.

Usopp felt his friends approach from behind – save Luffy, who was standing slapped to the wall again and Franky, who was down by the docks preparing the Sunny for a quick run – all vibrating with impatience for their own escape.

 _Soon._

"Commodore!" One officer's shout was enough to make Usopp's stomach drop and the day go instantly to shit. "Sir, ships from the Headquarters are approaching!"

 _Not soon enough, it seems._

"Why?" That was the only question his numb mind could formulate.

The officer drew to a stop and blinked in confusion, obviously barely informed of the reason high ranking people from the _Headquarters_ would stop by to visit them.

"They didn't mention the reason, sir. Though there was an obnoxiously loud laugh that wouldn't stop. It made it hard to understand what the Fleet Admiral was saying."

Concerned himself, though more for the Commodore – since he and his crew would be getting out of there as soon as the Red Force was out of its hiding place – Shanks watched the younger man walk into a wide circle around his companions before drawing to a stop in front of them again. He felt the other's gaze fix upon him as the marine spoke seriously.

"Good luck, Red Haired Shanks."

The older pirate blinked at those words, but the man had already turned around and was making his way back into the base while shouting orders.

"Tell Franky to lift anchor! _NOW_!"

Chopper nodded at the whispered shout and scrambled away immediately.

"We're getting out of here, I hope." Nami spoke from his left as she, Robin and the assassin trio followed him back into the base.

"You damn bet we do! I'm not going to stand around and let those guys come here." Usopp swiveled around abruptly, forcefully took off his sunglasses and glared at his friends' surprised faces. "I am _tired_ of _lying_!"

The information in itself shocked the Strawhats more than its actual implications. Their sniper, a liar from day one, to be actually saying that he doesn't want to lie anymore had been until now close to impossible. Nami gulped, seeing now the real aftereffects this whole mess had on Usopp. She now understood that even if she had her wish and qualms granted she had managed to hurt her friends by putting them through this. Her heart ached at the realization, but the navigator knew that breaking down now would not do any of them good. After they got out of there she will make sure to be talking to _all_ of them and at least apologize, if nothing else.

"Got it. We should hurry up then." Zoro suggested.

Usopp nodded along with the others and walked as fast as he could towards the set of tunnel-transformed-hallways that were connecting the actual building to the docks built in the eastern cliffs.

* * *

Luffy glanced between the Red Haired pirates' preparations and the approaching Navy ships. Correction: _huge_ Navy ships. Those things weren't half as big back on Enies Lobby or even Marineford, so the raven head was, understandably, awed to say the least. Unfortunately, his awe was not very recommended in those time-limit moments.

"Hello there!" A voice to his right made him jump. He has been so focused on those damn ships that he hadn't noticed someone approach. At closer inspection, it was Shanks.

Luffy's pulse quickened and his eyes widened considerably.

 _Dammit_!

He had let Shanks to sneak up on him! And now the man was studying him curiously and all Luffy really wanted in that moment was to be swallowed up by the wall he was slammed up against. His eyes wandered over the beach in front of him and found it deserted. The entrance and the room behind the partially glassy doors, too. His friends had left! And they left him there… with Shanks!

The pirate captain's teeth ground nervously, but he knew that it might have very well been his fault for being left there all alone. He had seen Usopp's stressed out form slumping in defeat at the news and his friends might have been too distracted to realize he had not joined them in their strategic retreat. That meant that he had to somehow get on the Sunny when it would appear in sight – as he was pretty sure that's where they were all headed to, though he wouldn't trust himself to go after them, knowing that he did not have a clue where Franky had anchored the Sunny. His knowledge of the base only extended so far as to the canteen, Usopp's office, the room where he usually slept and back to the canteen. And the outside, he couldn't forget the training fields. But in that moment these fields seemed unimportant to Shanks and Luffy doubted his idol would have appreciated a lecture on them. Swallowing down the lump in his throat, the rubber man tried to take a step towards the door, never once ungluing himself from the wall.

Shanks only raised an eyebrow in confusion at the sight of the marine attempting to clean the wall with his back. He did not have any idea in reality what that kid wanted to do, but he'd be damned if he wouldn't have a little fun. Besides, it was the kid's fault for sticking himself to the wall and daydreaming. Whoever heard of that one before? Certainly not him.

"What are you doing?" His question effectively stopped the marine, but the man under the cap did not once glance up at him. Though Shanks could barely make out any facial feature, he could only see the white patch under his left eye.

"No… thing." Luffy cringed at the way his voice sounded, but at least it was a little different than usual. He remembered that Makino once said that when boys grew up, their voices changed and he wondered if maybe Shanks wouldn't recognize him by his new voice then maybe he could use it instead of this croaking tone.

The red haired man cocked his head slightly to the side. "You do know that you are glued to the wall, right?"

The amusement behind his question made Luffy twitch. Now he knew that the man was making fun of him and, though it felt nostalgic, it still managed to irritate the hell out of him since now he would have to be subjected to this while waiting for the Sunny.

"Yep." The younger pirate decided on short answers as a countermeasure against giving the man the impression that he was affected by his words.

"Aren't you supposed to help the others with preparations? What are you doing out here?"

Luffy ignored the string of questions as his mind focused on something else he hadn't realized until that very moment. Obviously the Red Haired pirates would see the Sunny way before him and it might cause them to attack his ship – whether knowingly or not – and their swift escape would be impended or ruined. With a resolute grunt, the raven head pushed himself off the wall, a plan already rooted in his mind. He had to attract their attention and what better way to do that than causing a ruckus?

"Because I can do whatever I want!" He declared loudly, internally sighing in relief when Shanks didn't seem to make any connection yet and turned his shadowed eyes towards the Red Force. "Hey, sniper guy!"

Yasopp looked up from his tedious knot at the approaching form of a random recruit he had never seen before in his life. Shanks was right behind him, the figure of calm and composure only disrupted by his stiff shoulders that signaled something strange was happening with the kid. The sniper noticed from the corner of his eyes the other pirates on deck paused in their preparations to gaze at the marine as well.

"Yeah?" Yasopp asked, seeing as the kid was simply staying near the water's edge and not saying anything.

 _Crap, I didn't think he would actually answer me!_

"Uh... don't think that our Commodore would lose so easily to you!" His words made many laugh while the man in question only crossed his arms, a sign for him to continue. With what, Luffy didn't know, but he had to make something up until his friends arrived. But he couldn't make up a lie for the life of him.

"You won now only because he wasn't in his best shape!" At least, he could say a little of the truth.

"I'm sure." Yasopp's dry answer was not encouraging, but at least the man wasn't sneering at him. "Well, no matter. I'm sure we'll meet again in the future and have a real match then."

Luffy looked up at the man he only remembered from childhood memories and grinned widely. "Yeah!"

Two startled yelps had him reeling back in confusion, but if the looks on Yasopp and Roo's faces were to be relied on, he might have very well spilled his secret.

"O-Oi, what the hell-"

" _HOW COULD YOU IDIOTS FORGET HIM?!_ " Nami's shout echoed around the bay and Luffy allowed another grin to slip on his face as the Sunny finally entered in view.

He sniffed, chest constricted in nostalgia at the ship he hadn't seen in almost a month. Without any regard for Shanks or the other pirates gathered around him, he broke into a run along the water's line towards the right-side edge of the beach.

"Shanks, stop that guy!" Yasopp and Roo shouted together.

Shanks glanced between his crewmates and the rapidly retreating kid in confusion, not knowing what the hell was even happening.

"Why? Who's that?"

"That ship is coming towards us!" Another pirate shouted from the crow's nest. "It has a Jolly Roger!"

Shanks' eyes widened and his mouth was close to unlocking itself when Ben appeared at the railing – a figure of calm in this disastrous storm.

The first mate took a deep drag from his cigarette before speaking through the ensuing smoke. "You should climb aboard, cap'."

Shanks nodded dumbly and rapidly made his way through the waist deep water until he arrived at the side of his ship and grabbed the rope thrown to him. Heaving himself up, he arrived just in time to see the kid near the eastern cliffs, waving frantically at the happy ship floating slowly towards him.

"I knew it! That was really Luffy!" Yasopp cried out, hands in his hair. His words stirred numerous whispers between the others.

"What! That can't be Luffy! The kid's somewhere in the New Wo-" Shanks halted, his own words sounding stupid in his ears.

"Yes, he was here in the New World, it seems." Ben spoke in amusement from beside him, looking at the ship carrying the Strawhat pirates' colors.

"But what's he doing here?" Roo's question was left unanswered.

Luffy suddenly stopped waving and clutched a medium sized boulder a few meters to his right. Any doubts that the kid was really the rubbery pirate evaporated from Shanks' mind when he saw the impossible act of someone stretching their hands to unnatural lengths. The red haired man felt his shock filter out, leaving joy at seeing the little Anchor all grown up and anger that the kid hadn't made himself known until now seep into his chest.

The distant sound of cannonballs and his own men's shouts suddenly alerted him to the closeness of the Marine ships.

"Raise the anchor!"

Pirates scrambled out of the way to follow his order, but Shanks did not let his eyes wander away from Luffy and his ship.

" _You idiot!_ " A figure appeared at the smaller ship's railing and many gasped at seeing 'Commander Marinaro'. The man had forgone his brown hat for the moment along with his coat and glasses. Without his disguise on, it was obvious to see who really has been impersonating the head of the base all along.

"Is that your son, Yasopp?" Ben asked for the sake of asking, hiding his smirk at the man's fallen jaw and bulged eyes at the sight of him.

" _Nami almost killed us all when we realized you weren't there!"_ Usopp continued to shout, unmindful of his captain's bouts of laughter.

"I was… competing against my son?" The Red Haired pirates' sniper couldn't quite make sense of that.

"Apparently." Shanks commented, watching as Luffy launched himself onto his ship to a chorus of cheers and yells from his crewmates.

" _Stop right there, Lucy-sama!_ " A loud voice said over the intercom from one of the Marine ships.

The Strawhats stopped dead in their tracks and even from that distance Shanks could see them look like children caught stealing cookies. He also absently noted the base's occupants spilling onto the beach as well as his crew's invisibility to the Navy. It seemed that somehow or the other, the marines were too focused on hunting for Luffy to really care about him and it amused Shanks to no end. So he decided to wait a little while more, now that danger had literally sidestepped them.

" _We've been informed that Strawhat Luffy's twin brother fresh from the Celestial Dragon's homes was here!_ " The guy with the intercom snail continued.

Shanks chocked on his spit at the absurd lie.

"What-"

"Like hell he had a twin brother, you idiots!" Yasopp's shout did nothing to deter the Marines' approach.

"Who even has a name like Lucy?" A blonde haired pirate asked curiously.

Shanks knew their comments would not cause any visible reaction from their foes. He had seen who had control over the speaker and he was positively sure that the man was having the time of his life.

" _Come now, don't be shy! I want to meet my long lost grandson!_ " Garp laughed heartily at the frozen forms of his grandson and his little crewmates. Those kids were just too easy to startle! But one thing nagged at him in that moment. " _Luffy! You look so good in that uniform! Seems like my dream has finally come true – are you ready to join the Marines?_ "

That was enough to break Luffy out from his stupor. Scowling at the old man, he jumped on the railing – Usopp and Chopper grabbed a hold of him to make sure he wouldn't slip – and shouted.

"Hell no, grandpa! Stop trying already!"

Garp deflated like a balloon. " _Aw… then we will have to sink you all! Don't hold back, boys!_ "

The cannon fire began as soon as he uttered those words and Shanks twitched. That old man was surely something else. After Portgas' stories of their childhood, he was glad that Luffy was still alive to this day.

Luffy threw his cap off as he started deflecting cannonballs. He was immediately aided by Roronoa Zoro, a blonde man he supposed was 'Black Leg' Sanji and a skeleton that was obviously 'Soul King' Brook, all dressed in the same clothes.

"So they were the 'assassin squad', huh?" The red haired man concluded.

It seemed that the Strawhats were turning their ship around, obviously trying for a swift escape, but Shanks feared they were a little too late for that. The wind was not very strong and the Navy ships were much too close. He half wondered what Sakazuki was doing since he had yet to show up.

" _You have nowhere to run, Strawhat!_ " The Fleet Admiral's dangerous growl echoed between the firing cannons.

 _Speaking of the devil._

Shanks was surprised by the grassy deck the other ship had. They even had trees!

"Looks pretty cozy." Roo commented, taking a bite of a new piece of meat none of them knew where it came from.

"Are they furling the sails?!" Yasopp exclaimed, face drawn up in confusion. "Why the hell would they do that?"

"Your guess is as good as mine." Ben said dryly, watching the teens' efforts on the other ship. "I suppose that their so-called Pacifista was the blue haired man at the helm."

"And the creepy woman was Nico Robin." Shanks smirked at his friend. Yasopp huffed and crossed his arms.

"I told you I knew her from somewhere!"

" _What the hell are those kids doing, Garp?_ " Sakazuki's question was clearly heard all the other way from the other ship.

Obviously not even the lava user was imagining that the Strawhat pirates would simply give themselves up.

" _Not sure!_ " By his jovial tone, Garp clearly knew.

Shanks' eyebrow rose in surprise when he spotted a laughing Sengoku and an amused Tsuru standing behind Luffy's grandfather.

The Strawhat pirates ignored all the shouts going on around them in favor of preparing their ship… for docking.

"Decreasing their speed and all… what's in those kids' minds?" Ben shook his head. Even he did not have any idea.

Shanks did not want to say it out loud, but he was becoming more and more concerned about the younger pirates' plan.

" _Prepare for Coup de Burst!_ " Again, that blond haired woman yelled and Shanks realized she was the navigator… with dyed hair. " _Usopp, make sure Luffy grabs onto something this time! I don't want to have to come back here!_ "

The sniper in question nodded and looked around quickly for his captain only to find him nowhere in sight.

" _Where the hell is he?!_ " The long nosed man positively screeched, hands waving about.

" _Oi, Shanks!_ "

The man in question raised his eyes to see Luffy standing perched on the back railing of his ship, a wide grin splitting his face and with his straw hat in one hand, waving at them.

" _We'll see you guys later, okay?_ "

Shanks smiled softly at the raven haired teen and nodded his consent resolutely. So that's what it had been about all along – Luffy wanted to keep his promise no matter what. And Shanks respected that and urged him on silently.

"I'll be surely waiting for that meeting, Luffy!"

Many of his crewmates cheered alongside their captain as the smaller ship finally aligned itself towards the open sea.

Luffy nodded back and placed the yellow straw hat back on his head just as Usopp arrived at his side and raised a hand in farewell at the other pirate crew. The two teens' smiles were the last thing Shanks saw before a large explosion shook the sea and their ship took flight. _Into the sky._

The Red Haired pirates blinked as one, watching the former floating vessel fly until only a speck remained in the distance.

" _You mean to tell me they escaped with_ _ **that**_ _?!_ "

 _Oho, it seems like the Fleet Admiral is in a bad mood._

" _Yep! That's how they got away back in Water 7, too!_ " Garp chuckled from his spot on the bow of the ship. The man was truly too laid back sometimes, especially in the face of the pulsing rage of his superior.

"That's some technology those kids have there." Shanks whistled appreciatively, still looking into the blue expanse where the lion headed ship had disappeared.

"I find myself somehow disappointed." Ben confessed, shocking many aboard.

"And pray tell, why?" Yasopp eyed his friend curiously, though a warning was clearly written on his face, daring his friend to say something about his son or Luffy's crew.

But Ben never had these kinds of ideas to begin with.

"The only man I would have worked under as a Marine proved to be a pirate."

Shanks snorted at the irony and slapped his friend on the back roughly.

"Unfortunately for you, my friend, it seems like your future is set in stone." The red haired pirate turned to face his crew and sighed melodramatically. "Seems like we won't get rid of good old Benny, kids!"

Many groaned jokingly as the first mate slapped his captain over the head, smirking.

" _What, you still here, Red Head?_ "

The pirates paused to look over to the marine veterans standing next to the Fleet Admiral at the railing. Garp cracked his knuckles and grinned ferociously.

"Then I guess a few words are in order. I've been searching for you for twelve years to return the favor you made me when you turned Luffy into a pirate!"

Shanks' muscles tensed at the obvious threat in the man's words, but he remained unmoving since Sakazuki did not look too ready to start a fight with them.

The lava user simply snorted to hide his amusement and pointed behind them in the base's direction.

"Or if you would rather help clean up the mess those kids left behind?"

The Yonko turned around to find himself gazing at a large poster spread over the building. It was very long, almost reaching the ground and he had to ask himself where those kids had gotten such a big, white sheet of paper.

Chuckles started up around him and he found himself unknowingly joining along seeing as the longer he gazed at the multicolored words and the painted faces with tongues sticking out or just winking at them, the funnier it got. On the bottom right, the Strawhats' Jolly Roger clearly stated the message's expeditors.

 _ **'Fooled you, losers! Thanks for the billion!'**_

* * *

 **A/N: Hi :D**

 **I'm back with the last chapter of this story! definitely has been one of my favorites to write xD**

 **Though I'm kinda' sad this fic's over, it was about time ._. gotta try at least to study from now on (who am I kidding?)**

 **I hope you liked it! Please leave your thoughts in a review! :D**

 **Now, onto the guest reviews~**

 **To opfan: I'm really glad you like it and I agree with you (even though I have a few stories of those myself xD)** **I hope you continue to enjoy the story!**

 **To AWESOME (nice name xD): Thanks!**

 **And to Guest: Fake father is an idiot (at least I created him for that reason, but I'm glad you like him anyway o3o)... and I'm sure he won't hesitate to stoop so low if he can demonstrate his 'skills'. Besides, Shanks is a pretty dangerous guy after all, so he could easily convince fake father imo. Well, the whole point was to keep their identities secret as much as they could, that's why they couldn't just coup de burst out of there. Besides, if Shanks can stop a warship, he can stop them too. I'm happy you like it! ^^**


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